Extinction of Behaviors

1. Extinction of Behaviors • Defined: The process by which an association between two events is broken. • If behavior is no longer reinforced, the behavior should stop. • Extinction practices usually cause behaviors to get worse before they are eliminated. • When reinforcement is stopped, the animal senses a certain level of frustration and will INCREASE the behavior before it DECREASES! • Called the “extinction burst”

2. Extinction, continued • Can be used to eliminate an undesirable behavior. • Requires 100% compliance by owners and ALL members of family in order to truly work. • Remember that the behavior often worsens before it goes away. This is NORMAL! • Can also result in the elimination of DESIRABLE behavior if not consistently reinforced. • Wife requires dog to sit and stay before feeding • Husband allows dog to eat without waiting.

3. Redirection during Extinction • Some animals need to be asked to do something else to “take their minds off” the behavior they normally do. • Be careful not to redirect too quickly • A jumping dog needs to be calm before touch or voice is offered for redirection. • Make the two behaviors incompatible. • A dog can’t sit AND jump on people simultaneously.

4. Reasons Extinction Fails • Reinforcement is not properly identified • The owner believes one thing is reinforcing behavior but it’s actually something else. • Reinforcement is coming from more than one source • There is more than one person or thing reinforcing the animal. This means that the animal has no consistency when we are trying to extinguish the behavior. • The animal is internally rewarded and is self-reinforcing • The animal is physiologically or mentally rewarded for the behavior. • These cases are more difficult to extinguish • MUST find an equally rewarding reinforcement that is appropriate.

5. Extinction Failure, Continued • Many unwanted behaviors are rooted in fear or anxiety. • Thunderstorms • Fireworks • Other animals • Unknown humans • Three main methods to extinguish fear-based behaviors: • Systematic desensitization • Counter-conditioning/counter-commanding • Response blocking/flooding

6. How to Accomplish Extinction • 1) Systematic desensitization • Start at a level that does not cause fear • Gradually increase exposure • Exposure time is increased until no fear response • 2) Counter-conditioning • The process of substituting an alternative • Most animals are food motivated • Enjoyment of food is incompatible with fear from stimulus • Use very small, special treats as long as dog exhibits no fear. • If dog stops eating, you have gone too far in exposure.

7. Accomplishing Extinction, continued • 2a) Counter-commanding • This is similar to the alternative behavior technique mentioned earlier. • If a dog barks at unknown people, ask the dog to sit, and give a constant stream of small, special rewards to reinforce the sit, rather than the bark.

8. Accomplishing Extinction, continued • Flooding/Response blocking • Exposes animal to fearful stimulus with no opportunity of escape until animal is no longer fearful. • Should be avoided as treatment for most pets. • Can cause additional behavior issues if animal acquires “learned helplessness”. • Animal believes that it has no control over response and stops responding to anything.

9. PREVENTION is best medicine! • 5 simple steps! • Elicit/Reward appropriate behavior • Prevent or minimize inappropriate behavior • Meet pet’s behavioral and developmental needs • Use negative correction/punishment to discourage inappropriate behavior • Minimize positive correction/punishment and only use it (correctly) when absolutely necessary.

10. More slides are coming soon!