Michele is completely frustrated by Felicia, her three-year old, who loves to pound on pots and pans with a wooden spoon. Michele has yelled at Felicia with no effect. A friend suggested ignoring Felicia, as perhaps Michele's attention was helping to reinforce Felicia's behavior. Michele tried her friend’s advice, but Felicia just made more noise. From an operant perspective, how would you
interpret what happened?
What will be an ideal response?
ANSWER:
?It sounds like Michele encountered an extinction burst. When Michele quit paying attention to Felicia’s loud pounding, she was no longer reinforcing her daughter’s behavior, which created an extinction schedule. Often when reinforced behavior is placed on an extinction schedule, there is a period of increased activity. Michele needs to continue with the extinction schedule until her daughter’s behavior begins to decline and be careful not to partially reinforce the behavior.
You might also like to view...
Trick-or-treaters who were given the chance to take either 1 piece of candy or extra pieces were less likely to steal more treats if they were wearing a mask as part of their costume
Indicate whether the statement is true or false.
These are specialized white blood cells that attack foreign substances, such as viruses and bacteria
a. cortisol cells b. lymphocytes c. red blood cells d. all of these choices