Behavior Intervention:Extinction

Ashley BakowskiSummer 2012

Is a Behavior Intervention Needed?

There are many behavioral interventions that we use in the field of education, and for many different reasons. If a child is demonstrating a behavior that is deemed aggressive or undesirable, it may be time to discuss an intervention. Parents, teachers, or other professionals who work with a child can help to determine if there is a need for a behavior intervention.

Examples of behaviors that can be encompassed in the realm of “aggressive or undesirable” include, but are not limited to:• Sarcasm• Put-downs• Verbal aggression• Interrupting• Shouting• Pinching• Scratching

Behaviors – What are they and why do they occur?

Behaviors include our actions and the general way in which we behave. Behaviors can be desirable (greeting a friend with a hug) or undesirable (looking around the room when a friend is talking to you) as defined by the parameters of ones culture. All people exhibit behaviors.

Behaviors occur because of consequences. These consequences reinforce the likelihood of that behavior occurring again. Behaviors and consequences are not always bad; for example, a child might engage in the behavior of waving at an adult because the consequence is the adult waving back. The child is reinforced by the waving and will likely engage in that behavior again.A less desirable example would be a child hitting his little brother because the consequence is attention from mom. Although this may not seem like desirable attention, it IS desirable for that particular child. As a result, they will probably hit their little brother again because they know that mom will give the child attention (even if it is a verbal reprimand or even time-out).

Extinction as an InterventionThe best course of action for undesirable behaviors may be extinction (also known as planned ignoring).

Extinction is “the procedure of choice with milder forms of aggression” and other undesirable behaviors.(McGinnis, p.195).

Extinction is “the withdrawal or removal of positive reinforcement”(McGinnis, p.195) for the behavior targeted for change. The reinforcers of a behavior are “withheld or ended, and students receive praise or positive reinforcement for demonstrating appropriate behaviors”(Salend, p.269). Extinction serves a two-fold purpose – eliminating an undesired behavior and increasing pro-social behaviors.

After determining the behavior in need of change, we then need to discover the purpose of the behavior. What is the child getting out of this behavior? Attention? Escape from an activity they do not want to do? Avoidance?

Please copy and paste the following into a web browser and watch:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAYGOQwobDE

How does extinction work?

The most important part of the extinction intervention is determining WHY the behavior is occurring(what is REINFORCING the child). Only then will we know what reinforcer to remove!

“Very often, the answer will be attention. Looking, staring, yelling at, talking to, or turning toward are common teacher and peer reactions to a youngster’s inappropriate behaviors”(McGinnis, p.195). It can be difficult to accept that children might be actively seeking negative attention, because to many of us that would be unpleasant. However, all of the listed reinforcers could very well be encouraging the child to continue engaging in the behavior. These are the very reinforcers that we, as parents and teachers, need to consistently REMOVE every time the child engages in the behavior targeted for change.

Case Study – Extinction in Action

Kevin is a 7 year old boy who attends school in a self-contained classroom. Kevin has moderate developmental delays but understands what is being said to him. Kevin has many methods of communication (some verbal words, sign language, and a dyna vox). However, Kevin displays aggressive behaviors to the staff members in his room. Simple eye contact with Kevin often sends him into aggressive behaviors and he will scratch or bite any staff member near him – even if they weren’t the one giving Kevin the initial attention. While he is aggressing, Kevin is making very definite eye contact with other staff members to see how they will react to his violent actions. Often, they tell him to stop, engage him in conversation (“I don’t like that. We have nice hands in school”), stare at him, or reprimand him. Kevin appears to crave that attention.

The behavior specialist creates a behavior plan for Kevin which largely includes extinction. Every staff member in the classroom is given a tutorial on how to infuse this plan throughout the day. Any time Kevin engages in aggression, no one is to make eye contact with him, run over to try and stop him, reprimand him, or remove him from the room. He is to receive no attention for this. The person who he is aggressing at will calmly, slowly leave the situation and go elsewhere, carrying about with their day as normal. Staff can re-engage Kevin with the task at hand after a 2 minute wait period.

Case Study – Con’t

It isn’t enough that just the staff members in Kevin’s room stick to this plan. The behavior specialist sent a memo to every classroom in the school, including the Art and Physical Education teachers, explaining that throughout the day Kevin’s aggressive behaviors should be ignored. This eliminates the possibility that if Kevin aggresses in the hallway, an unfamiliar staff member won’t react and thus give Kevin the attention he wants. This extinction plan must carry over in every part of the school and with every staff member, and even at home.

Along with ignoring the problem behavior, staff should be regularly praising his desirable behavior (“Wow Kevin, I love the way you are sitting in your seat!” “Kevin, great job keeping your hands to yourself during snack time!”). This way, Kevin will start to see that he is getting far more attention for his more “appropriate” behaviors.

Initially, Kevin went through an “extinction burst”. It is not uncommon for “the rate and intensity of the aggressive behavior to increase sharply before it begins its more gradual decline toward zero”(McGinnis, p.197) (This can be frustrating and discouraging for the adults implementing the behavior intervention, but in reality, the extinction burst really shows that the extinction is starting to work.)

After the extinction burst phase (where Kevin’s behaviors became more frequent and more aggressive), the staff in his room and his family at home began noticing a gradual decline in Kevin’s aggression.

Another event to watch for, that Kevin has yet to display, is known as spontaneous recovery. This occurs when the behaviors that have been successfully extinguished reappear occasionally for reasons that are difficult to determine (McGinnis, p.197).

Kevin almost never aggresses at school anymore. The fact that the adults around him were extremely consistent with the planned ignoring(extinction) program lead to the dramatic decrease in aggressive behavior.

Case Study – Con’t

Where is the research?

The following are 3 empirical articles that support extinction as a successful behavior

intervention. The articles include real interventions done on children of varying

ages and disabilities. All articles presented have been peer-reviewed.

Article 1-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

This study was conducted with 3 children, all of whom have developmental disabilities and engaged in the same self-injurious behavior – head banging. However, the head banging served a different purpose for each child. Student A (age 7) desired attention, Student B (age 12) desired escape, and Student C (age 8) head-banged for the sensory input. After several treatment techniques, reductions in the self-injurious behavior were observed only when extinction was implemented. (Iwata, Pace, Cowdery & Milternberger, 1994).Article 2 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1226158/This intervention took place in a preschool setting and dealt with children’s noncompliance during transitions. The children involved were aged 14 months, 22 months, and 15 months. All children displayed zero or near-zero compliance and low to moderate levels of problem behavior during the baseline, warning, and toy conditions. During the extinction phase, compliance immediately increased in all conditions. Although extinction was shown to be a functional component of the intervention, it is unknown whether target behaviors were maintained by positive reinforcement (access to the play activity) or negative reinforcement (escape from the toileting routine) because, as implemented, the extinction procedure eliminated both potential sources of reinforcement. (Cote, Thompson & McKerchar, 2005)

Article 3- doi: 10.1080/07317107.2012.684654

Article 3 was an extinction intervention on several families who wanted to decrease the amount of nights that their children spent sleeping in bed with their parents. The children in question ranged from ages 2 through 6. Three sessions were conducted with each parent. At the first session, parents described bed-sharing history and began collecting baseline data. At the second session, parents were instructed to employ the intervention. At the third session, parents were interviewed and offered continued support, if needed. Participants included three children who slept with their parents 4 or more nights per week. The intervention resulted in a substantial decrease in bed-sharing behavior for all participants, and parents reported being satisfied with the intervention(Roberds-Roach, Short & Lerman, 2012).

Implementation Guide

**In order for extinction to be effective, it needs to be implemented across ALL SETTINGS in the SAME MANNER.**

Identify the behavior(s) in need of change. Is a behavior change warranted? Is this something the child might grow out of, or is it entirely undesirable?

Explore the reasons for the behavior. Why does the child continue engaging in that behavior? In other words, what purpose does it fulfill? Attention? Escape? Avoidance? The consequence of the behavior is the REINFORCER. Identify the main reinforcer. Often, the reinforcer is attention.

Withhold the reinforcer ACROSS THE BOARD. Every adult and older child needs to consistently ignore the behavior in its entirety. This will be difficult. The behavior may get much worse before it gets better. The key to implement extinction is consistency – everyone in the child’s life needs to practice planned ignoring.

In home, at school, in a center setting – extinction procedures are the same. The physical settings are different; the reaction to the behaviors will not be. The child should not be able to receive the reinforcers in ANY setting.

Prepare for an extinction burst. This will be challenging, but remember, it means that the extinction plan is starting to work!

Remember spontaneous recovery. For reasons unknown, the behavior might occasionally resurface. Stick to the initial extinction plan.

Above all – remember to keep with it! This is not an easy thing to do. This is not a “quick fix”. This can take months to become effective, but remain consistent.

References

Cote, C., Thompson, R., & McKerchar, P. (2005). The effects of antecedent interventions and extinction on toddlers' compliance during transitions. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 38(2), 235-238. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1226158/

Iwata, B., Pace, G., Cowdery, G., & Miltenberger, R. (1994). What makes extinction work: An analysis of procedural form and function. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27(1), 131-144. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

McGinnis, E. (1997). Skillstreaming the elementary school child. Champain, IL: Research Press.

Roberds-Roach, D., Short, M., & Lerman, D. (2012). An intervention using extinction to decrease bed-sharing in 2- to 6-year-old children. Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 34(2), 156-162. doi: 10.1080/07317107.2012.684654

Salend, S. (2011). Creating inclusive classrooms. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.