There are several factors that are responsible for causing an animal or a human being to stop engaging in the previously conditioned behavior. Extinction is one of the factors. In psychology, it is defined as a slow weakening of a conditioned response that results into the decreasing or disappearing of a behavior. There are two main causes of extinction. Extinction can occur if an installed behavior is no longer reinforced if the method used for reinforcement is no longer rewarding. This is known as operant conditioning. Secondly, classical conditioning can occur when a conditioned stimulus no longer corresponds or pairs with an unconditional stimulus. The discussion will analyze various examples that justify the psychological principle of extinction.
Example 1
A researcher has trained an experimental laboratory rat to press a key whenever it is receiving a food pellet. After some time, the researcher stops delivering the food. The rat will continue to press the key but will not receive the food pellet. The behavior of the rat in pressing the key will begin dwindling until it disappears completely. In this case, extinction does not occur immediately but takes some considerable amount of time. Extinction of the behavior (pressing the key) disappears gradually because the reinforcement (giving it the food pellet) is not reinforced.
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Example 2
The second example is on the Pavlov’s dog. The dog developed an association of food due to the sound of a ringing bell. When the bell was ringed continuously, the dog would salivate and ready itself to receive food. When the bell rang continuously, and no food was presented to the dog, the process of extinction gradually began. The dog stopped salivating and being restless whenever it heard the sound of the bell. The extinction occurs because even though the behavior (ringing the bell) is still there, the reinforcement (giving it food) is no longer there.
Example 3
A mother will always turn off the lights of the bedroom when the child goes to sleep. She notices that the child can only sleep when the lights are off. She now decides to experiment if the child will sleep when the lights are on. She notices that the child faces so much difficulty in trying to sleep and in most of the cases the child cries. However, after some days of exposure to light during bed time, the child can now sleep peacefully without any problem. In this case, the behavior was sleeping, and the reinforcement was switching off the lights.
There are several factors that are responsible for influencing extinction. First, the strength of the original conditioning can play a big role. The longer the conditioning and the magnitude of the conditioned response may render the response resistant to extinction. Behaviors that are well established may be difficult to face extinction and may still be displayed even after the reinforcement has been completely removed. The personality of somebody can also determine the extinction of behavior. Personality factors may include fear, courage, perception, strength, and weaknesses. Habituation can also play a major role in extinction. Habituation occurs due to repeated exposure to conditioned stimulus. Due to habituation to a conditioned stimulus, one is likely to ignore it with minimal response. Consequently, this may lead to the extinction of the conditioned behavior (Cherry, 2017).
Conclusion
In conclusion, extinction is a form of psychological conditioning that refers to the reduction of response towards a stimulus. There are very many examples of extinctions that involve behavior among human beings and animals. Extinction occurs when the reinforcing condition is either completely removed or reduced. However factors such as the magnitude of conditioning, personality and habituation influence extinction.
Reference
Cherry, K. (2017). How Is Extinction Defined in Psychology?. VERYWELL. Retrieved from: https://www.verywell.com/what-is-extinction-2795176
