Firefighting in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
The concept of extinction in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the reduction or cessation of a target (unwanted) behavior due to the cessation of the source of reinforcement for that behavior. In other words, it is defined as stopping the reinforcement of previously reinforced behavior.
How does an extinguishing explosion occur ?
In Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), an extinction explosion occurs when the reinforcement that causes the behavior is removed. The behavior initially increases and begins to gradually decrease until it reaches the extinction point.
Example of an extinguishing strategy in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and how an extinguishing explosion occurs
When using a vending machine that does not deliver juice until you pay and press the button, this behavior here has a history of reinforcement (obtaining the desired result), so when the situation changes and the juice machine stops delivering it, The reaction here is to start pressing the buttons more frequently, The behavior of pressing buttons quickly and incorrectly is called (extinguishing explosion). After that, the behavior of pressing buttons will gradually decrease and then the behavior will stop.
Note: Reducing reinforcement (intermittent reinforcement schedule) may maintain the behavior. This makes extinction more difficult to occur in the future because the individual becomes accustomed to not getting the reinforcer (desired outcome) after each time the behavior occurs.
Extinction resistance refers to how much an individual responds after reinforcement is removed and intermittent and variable schedules are associated with greater resistance to extinction.
What are the possible side effects when applying extinguisher?
- Increased behavior (extinguishing explosion).
- Spontaneous recovery (behavior returns for a short period for no apparent reason).
- Sometimes desired behaviors may be accidentally extinguished and these behaviors may cease.
Note: Increasing extinguishing opportunities can reduce the target behavior very quickly, so increasing extinguishing opportunities means that there are more opportunities to increase the behavior (extinguishing explosion), Sometimes refusing reinforcement may speed up the extinguishing process.
Fire resistance
Extinction resistance refers to an individual’s continued response even after reinforcement is removed.
There are some tables that can resist extinguishing, including:
High rate reinforcement schedules, intermittent reinforcement schedules, And variable reinforcement schedules, so all of these schedules lead to the continuation of behavior.
Note: When implementing punishment procedures, extinguishing procedures must be used in addition to introducing correct replacement behaviors. Because punishment is a measure to stop behavior without treating it or replacing it with the correct behavior for that, Those implementing punishment procedures must use it correctly and make it a last resort to solve the problem.
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