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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.
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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”
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.