Emotional responding
Emotional behavior such as crying, yelling, aggression or agitation that can occur as a secondary effect of extinction or punishment.
When a behavior stops producing reinforcement, or when punishment is used, many people respond with emotional behavior: crying, screaming, frustration, agitation, property destruction or aggression toward others. During extinction this is sometimes called extinction-induced aggression or emotional behavior. During punishment, emotional and aggressive reactions are among the best-known side effects. These reactions can be directed at the person delivering the procedure or at others nearby.
Emotional responding is not the same as the problem behavior the plan targets, although the two can overlap. It is usually temporary in extinction, but it can create safety risks and increase the chance that staff or caregivers give in. It may also be an important signal of distress, possible withdrawal of assent, or a problem with the procedure.
Supervisors reduce emotional responding by combining extinction with reinforcement for replacement behavior, using antecedent strategies, and avoiding punishment whenever possible. Plans should explain how to respond safely, including when to follow crisis procedures.
The RBT stays calm, keeps everyone safe, follows the plan, and describes what happened objectively in data and session notes (for example, "cried and hit the table 4 times" rather than "was furious"). Strong or new emotional responding should be reported to the supervisor promptly.
Example and non-example
| Example | On the second day of escape extinction during handwriting, a client cries, pushes the paper away and kicks the table. The RBT keeps the session safe, follows the plan and reports the reactions to the supervisor. |
|---|---|
| Non-example | A client laughs and cheers after winning a board game. That is an emotional reaction, but it is not a side effect of extinction or punishment. |
Don't confuse it with
| Extinction burst | An extinction burst is an increase in the extinguished behavior itself, while emotional responding refers to emotional behaviors such as crying or aggression that may accompany it. |
|---|---|
| Escape and avoidance (side effect of punishment) | Escape and avoidance means moving away from the punisher or setting, while emotional responding means emotional or aggressive reactions. |
Test yourself
-
Question 1When the RBT stops reinforcing the previous approximation, the client briefly repeats that approximation more often and more forcefully and fusses. What best explains this?
Show answer
C: An extinction burst for the earlier approximation. Once an approximation is no longer reinforced, it is on extinction, and a temporary increase in its frequency or intensity, often with emotional responding, is an extinction burst.
- A: Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of an extinguished behavior after time has passed, not an increase right after reinforcement stops.
- B: Satiation would reduce responding overall, not make the earlier approximation more forceful.
- D: Response generalization is the appearance of untaught forms with the same function, not a brief increase in an old form.
Task C.10 · 40-hour curriculum section E
-
Question 2Which side effect is a known risk when response cost is used in a token economy?
Show answer
A: Emotional responding or aggression. Like other punishment procedures, response cost can lead to emotional behavior, aggression or attempts to escape or avoid the situation. This is one reason it is used only when the supervisor includes it in the plan.
- B: Removing tokens does not change them into unconditioned reinforcers.
- C: Faster learning of target behaviors is not a side effect of response cost.
- D: Response generalization is not a known side effect of removing tokens.
Task C.11 · 40-hour curriculum section E
-
Question 3During escape extinction, a client cries and frowns and says, "I'm mad!" Which secondary effect of extinction is this?
Show answer
B: Emotional responding. Extinction often produces emotional responses such as crying, anger or frustration. These are expected secondary effects, recorded and reported as the plan directs.
- A: Spontaneous recovery is the return of an extinguished behavior after time away.
- C: Resurgence is the return of an old behavior when an alternative loses reinforcement.
- D: Behavioral contrast refers to changes in other settings.
Task D.6 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task D.6 Secondary effects of extinction and punishment in content area D, Behavior Reduction, which is 14 of the 75 scored questions.