B-11: Identify and distinguish between operant and respondent extinction as operations and processes ©
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Target Terms: operant and respondent extinction
Operant Extinction
Definition: Withholding all reinforcement from a previously reinforced behavior maintained by its consequences. Basically, the reinforcement stops.
Example: Allie connects with someone through a dating site, and they exchange multiple emails. Allie’s email-writing behavior is maintained by the consequence of receiving an email back. After a few weeks, Allie stops receiving any response to her messages.
Why it matters: Clinically, extinction should be considered as part of a comprehensive treatment package, informed by a thorough assessment. Behavior analysts should prepare for extinction related effects, such as aggression, big emotions, physical avoidance, response variability (trying new behaviors to get the same outcome) and so on.
Respondent Extinction
Definition: Respondent extinction can only happen after respondent conditioning. Basically it’s the opposite. The relationship between the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli is weakened by presenting the conditioned stimulus alone over and over. (It may help to think of “un-pairing.”)
Example: The most famous example is Pavlov’s dogs eventually no longer salivated at the sound of the bell because the bell was no longer associated with food. Other examples include treatment for phobias and traumatic stress responses, in which the challenging stimuli is presented in the absence of the original threat. (For example, repeatedly exposing a person to needles without ever injecting them to weaken the fear response to needles.)
Why it matters: Sometimes people get confused and think that extinction ONLY means operant extinction. The reality is that we need to know about respondent extinction in order to understand our own and others’ experiences.