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Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders pp 1–4Cite as

Extinction Procedures

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Definition

Extinction refers to the process of discontinuing the reinforcer that historically follows a behavior (Cooper et al. 2007).

Historical Background

In operant psychology, behavior is influenced by both the stimuli that occur prior to and following it. The stimuli that follow behaviors are consequences. Consequences influence behavior in three ways – consequences can increase (strength rate, frequency, etc.), decrease, or have no influence on strength. A reinforcing consequence results in an increased strength (or frequency or rate) of that behavior. Similar to the presentation of a reinforcer strengthening a behavior, removal of the reinforcer (or preventing it from occurring) that follows a behavior will have a weakening effect on that behavior; it will reduce in strength (or frequency or rate).

Historically, the treatment of challenging behaviors that interfere with developing independence or adaptive skills has focused on the application of punitive consequences that reduce...

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References and Readings

  • Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2007). Applied behavior analysis (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

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  • Dawson, J. E., Piazza, C. C., Sevin, B. M., Gulotta, C. S., Lerman, D., & Kelley, M. L. (2003). Use of the high-probability instructional sequence and escape extinction in a child with food refusal. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 36(1), 105–108.

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  • LaRue, R. H., Stewart, V., Piazza, C. C., Volkert, V. M., Patel, M. R., & Zeleny, J. (2011). Escape as reinforcement and escape extinction in the treatment of feeding problems. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44(4), 719–735.

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  • Patel, M. R., Piazza, C. C., Martinez, C. J., Volkert, V. M., & Santana, C. M. (2002). An evaluation of two differential reinforcement procedures with escape extinction to treat food refusal. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 35(4), 363–374.

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  • Piazza, C. C., Patel, M. R., Gulotta, C. S., Sevin, B. M., & Layer, S. A. (2003). On the relative contributions of positive reinforcement and escape extinction in the treatment of food refusal. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 36(3), 309–324.

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  • Rincover, A., Cook, R., Peoples, A., & Packard, D. (1979). Sensory extinction and sensory reinforcement principles for programming multiple adaptive behavior change. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 12(2), 221–233.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Behavioral Studies, Endicott College, Beverly, MA, USA

    Mary Jane Weiss

  2. Endicott College, Beverly, MA, USA

    Samantha Russo

Authors
  1. Mary Jane Weiss
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  2. Samantha Russo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mary Jane Weiss .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, USA

    Fred R. Volkmar

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Weiss, M.J., Russo, S. (2018). Extinction Procedures. In: Volkmar, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_1137-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_1137-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6435-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6435-8

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