D.4 Extinction
Extinction means a behavior no longer produces the reinforcer that has been maintaining it, so over time the behavior occurs less. The procedure must match the function of the behavior, which is why the supervisor designs it from assessment results. The RBT's job is to withhold the right reinforcer every time, keep everyone safe, record data and report what happens.
What the outline says
Task D.4 in content area D, Behavior Reduction (14 of the 75 scored questions): "Implement extinction procedures."
What extinction is
In extinction, a behavior that used to be reinforced stops being reinforced. Nothing new is added and nothing the client has is taken away; the behavior simply stops working. A vending machine that no longer gives snacks is an everyday example: pressing the button stops producing food, and pressing soon stops.
Extinction is defined by the contingency, not by what the adult looks like they are doing. "Ignoring" a behavior is extinction only if attention is the reinforcer for that behavior. Ignoring a behavior that is maintained by escape, by a tangible item or by its own sensory result withholds nothing that matters, so the behavior keeps going.
Matching extinction to the function
The supervisor identifies the function through a functional assessment and writes the matching procedure. The common forms are:
- Attention extinction: the behavior no longer produces looks, comments, reactions or physical contact. Planned ignoring is the usual way to carry it out.
- Escape extinction: the behavior no longer ends or delays the demand or situation. The task stays in place, and the plan says how to re-present it and prompt.
- Tangible extinction: the behavior no longer produces the item or activity, such as candy at the checkout or the tablet.
- Sensory extinction: the sensory result of an automatically reinforced behavior is removed or masked, such as a padded mat on a table a client taps for the sound.
Getting the function wrong can make things worse. If a child's tantrums are maintained by escape and staff "ignore" the tantrum by sitting quietly with the work put away, the tantrum still produces escape and is strengthened. The same is true in reverse: if a client yells to make adults leave them alone, walking away is reinforcement, and extinction means staying and continuing the interaction as the plan describes.
How to implement extinction
Before the first session, the RBT should be able to answer three questions: what reinforcer is being withheld, exactly how to withhold it, and what the plan says to do if the behavior escalates. Questions go to the supervisor before starting. If the plan includes something the RBT has not been trained in, such as physical guidance during escape extinction, the RBT asks for training first.
During the session:
- Withhold the reinforcer every time the target behavior occurs.
- Keep reinforcing appropriate behavior, especially the replacement behavior named in the plan.
- Stay neutral. A calm face and no comments are part of planned ignoring.
- Keep everyone safe. If a dangerous behavior must be blocked, block it with as little of the maintaining reinforcer as possible, as the plan describes.
- Record every occurrence, including increases.
Consistency is the core of extinction. When a behavior is reinforced only some of the time, it is on an intermittent schedule, and intermittently reinforced behavior is more resistant to extinction than behavior that was reinforced every time. One adult who gives in, a grandparent who comforts whining, or peers who laugh at clowning can keep the behavior going. The RBT does not try to fix this alone; they report it to the supervisor, who works with the family or school on consistency.
Extinction works best with reinforcement
Plans rarely use extinction by itself. Most pair it with differential reinforcement of a replacement behavior that earns the same reinforcer: attention for tapping a shoulder instead of interrupting, or a break for signing BREAK instead of hitting. The client still gets what they need, through a better behavior. This is also why extinction does not mean ignoring the client for the whole session. Only the target behavior loses its reinforcer.
What to expect and what to report
Extinction usually reduces behavior gradually. A temporary increase at the start, the extinction burst, is common, and new behaviors, emotional responses or brief returns of the behavior can follow. These secondary effects are covered in task D.6. The RBT's response is to keep implementing the plan as written, keep everyone safe and record accurately.
Report to the supervisor promptly when:
- the behavior escalates beyond the safety limits in the plan;
- someone is reinforcing the behavior;
- the behavior seems to produce a reinforcer the plan does not address, such as the task being put away during "attention" extinction;
- data show no decrease after the procedure has been run as written;
- the RBT made a mistake, such as giving the reinforcer during a burst.
Mistakes go in the record honestly. A burst that was reinforced matters to the supervisor's decisions, so leaving it out of the session note makes the data misleading.
Staying within the RBT role
Safety always comes before extinction. If a client on planned ignoring heads toward a street, the RBT steps in. Beyond that, the RBT does not decide to start, stop or change an extinction procedure, add a punisher, or switch procedures because progress is slow. Those are supervisor decisions based on data the RBT provides.
Examples and non-examples
| Example | Non-example |
|---|---|
| A child's silly shouting is maintained by adult laughter. Under the plan, the RBT keeps the puzzle going with a neutral face and no comment, and praises the child when they ask for a turn. | The RBT says, "We don't shout at the table." Even a calm comment is attention, the reinforcer the plan withholds. |
| A teen tears worksheets to get out of work. Under escape extinction, the RBT presents a new copy and prompts as the plan describes. | The RBT lets the teen take a break "to calm down" after tearing. The tearing has produced escape. |
| A client taps a table for the clinking sound. A padded mat now covers the table, so tapping makes no sound (sensory extinction). | A client has not ridden a bike for months and has lost some skill. No behavior went unreinforced, so this is not extinction. |
Common mistakes
- Ignoring a behavior that is not maintained by attention. Extinction must withhold the reinforcer that actually maintains the behavior.
- Giving in during a burst. This reinforces the most intense form of the behavior and makes it more persistent.
- Withholding all attention for the whole session instead of only after the target behavior.
- Calling time-out or response cost "extinction." Those remove a reinforcer the client has; extinction stops delivering the maintaining reinforcer.
- Stopping or changing the procedure because it seems slow. Share the data with the supervisor and keep implementing as written.
- Leaving reinforced bursts or mistakes out of the data.
How it's tested
Questions usually describe a behavior with a stated function and ask what extinction would look like, or which RBT response follows the plan. Check the function first: the right answer withholds that specific reinforcer. Other items ask you to tell extinction apart from punishment, time-out and differential reinforcement, or ask what the RBT should do when someone else is reinforcing the behavior or the data show no progress. When an option has the RBT changing the plan, it is wrong.
Practice questions for task D.4
10 of our 41 questions on this task. The rest are in the Behavior Reduction practice sets and the mock exams.
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Question 1A teen's worksheet tearing is maintained by escape from schoolwork. The supervisor's plan calls for escape extinction. The teen tears a worksheet in half. Which RBT response follows the escape extinction procedure?
Show answer
B: Present a new copy of the worksheet so the work demand stays in place. For escape-maintained behavior, extinction means the behavior no longer ends or delays the demand. The task stays in place, so tearing does not work to get out of it.
- A: If the work stops while the teen sits, tearing still produces escape and is reinforced.
- C: A break after tearing gives escape from the work, which reinforces the tearing.
- D: Removing tokens is response cost, a punishment procedure, and is not in this plan.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 2A client's screaming during tasks is maintained by escape from those tasks. A new staff member suggests 'just ignoring' the screaming. Why would ignoring alone not put this behavior on extinction?
Show answer
C: Ignoring does not stop the screaming from getting the client out of tasks. Extinction must withhold the specific reinforcer that maintains the behavior. Here the reinforcer is escape, so the task must stay in place; withholding attention does nothing to that contingency.
- A: Ignoring withholds attention, so it fits attention-maintained behavior, not tangible-maintained behavior.
- B: Withholding attention for attention-maintained behavior is extinction, not punishment.
- D: Pairing with time-out is not a requirement; the problem is that ignoring does not withhold escape.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 3A child used to get candy at the checkout after crying. The supervisor's plan now says crying will no longer produce candy. During a community outing, the child cries at the checkout. What should the RBT do?
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A: Finish the checkout without buying the candy. Tangible extinction means the behavior no longer produces the item. The RBT completes the routine without delivering the candy, keeps the child safe, and follows any other parts of the plan, such as reinforcing calm requests.
- B: Buying the candy after crying reinforces crying, whatever the RBT says.
- C: Offering the candy for stopping still makes crying the route to candy, and the plan does not include this.
- D: Leaving abandons the plan's procedure and may reinforce crying if the child wants to leave.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 4A client flips the light switch on and off for long periods, and the supervisor's assessment suggests the flashing light maintains the behavior. During sessions, the switch is disconnected so flipping it no longer changes the light. What procedure is this?
Show answer
A: Sensory extinction. When a behavior is maintained by its own sensory consequence (automatic reinforcement), sensory extinction removes or masks that consequence. Flipping the switch still happens but no longer produces the light change.
- B: Noncontingent reinforcement delivers a reinforcer on a time schedule; here the behavior's own sensory result is removed.
- C: Response cost removes a reinforcer the client already has, such as tokens, after the behavior.
- D: Escape extinction is for behavior maintained by getting away from something; this behavior is maintained by its visual result.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 5A client's whining is on attention extinction. The RBT follows the plan, but a grandparent who is often in the room sometimes comforts the client when they whine. What is the most likely effect on the whining?
Show answer
D: It may persist longer because it is still sometimes reinforced. Extinction only works if the reinforcer is withheld every time. Occasional reinforcement creates an intermittent schedule, and behavior on an intermittent schedule tends to be more resistant to extinction.
- A: Attention after whining is the reinforcer for whining, so it slows the decrease.
- B: Nothing in the scenario predicts a shift to other settings; the issue is reinforcement still occurring.
- C: DRO reinforces the absence of behavior; occasional attention after whining reinforces the whining itself.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 6During home sessions, an RBT implements attention extinction for a client's yelling, as written. The RBT sees that a parent often responds to the yelling with long talks. What is the best next step?
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C: Tell the supervisor so they can address consistency with the family. Inconsistent extinction can keep the behavior going. The RBT keeps implementing the plan and reports the observation to the supervisor, who works with caregivers on consistency.
- A: The RBT may not stop or change a plan on their own; that is the supervisor's decision.
- B: Adding a procedure that is not in the plan is outside the RBT's role.
- D: Staying consistent is right, but information that could affect progress should go to the supervisor.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E · RBT Ethics Code 2.06
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Question 7A child's screaming during table work is maintained by escape, and the supervisor's plan uses escape extinction. The plan says the task ends only when the child completes the current step. The child screams for three minutes, then quietly completes the step. When should the RBT remove the task?
Show answer
D: Right after the child completes the step, as the plan says. In escape extinction, problem behavior must not end the task. The task ends after the response the plan names, here completing the step; removing it at any point during the screaming would let screaming produce escape.
- A: Removing the task while the screaming is loudest lets the most intense screaming produce escape.
- B: The plan's rule is completing the step, not a time limit; ending the task during screaming lets it produce escape.
- C: Ending the task before the step is done still lets the episode end in escape, and it departs from the plan's rule.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 8Two clients have problem behavior maintained by attention. For one client, attention followed the behavior every time. For the other, attention followed it only now and then, unpredictably. If both are placed on extinction, which behavior will probably persist longer?
Show answer
A: The behavior that was reinforced unpredictably. Behavior with a history of intermittent, especially variable, reinforcement is more resistant to extinction than behavior that was reinforced every time.
- B: Behavior reinforced on a continuous schedule usually extinguishes faster than intermittently reinforced behavior.
- C: The schedule of past reinforcement affects how long behavior persists during extinction.
- D: Extinction does not end behavior immediately, and resistance differs with the reinforcement history.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 9Which RBT behavior best fits planned ignoring of a client's attention-maintained behavior?
Show answer
B: Keeping a neutral face and avoiding eye contact and comments. Planned ignoring withholds all forms of attention after the target behavior: looks, comments, facial expressions and physical contact. The RBT keeps the client safe and gives attention for appropriate behavior instead.
- A: Announcing the ignoring is a comment, so it still gives attention.
- C: An explanation is attention delivered right after the behavior.
- D: A reprimand is attention and may reinforce attention-maintained behavior.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 10An extinction procedure can be used only with a behavior that meets which condition?
Show answer
C: It has been maintained by a reinforcer that can be identified and withheld. Extinction means withholding the reinforcer that maintains a behavior, so the reinforcer must be known (usually from a functional assessment) and under the team's control.
- A: Extinction requires a past reinforcement history; there must be a reinforcer to withhold.
- B: Rate of behavior does not decide whether extinction can be used.
- D: Extinction applies to behavior maintained by social or automatic reinforcement.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Answer every question to see your score.
Key terms
| Extinction | Discontinuing the reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior, so the behavior no longer produces its maintaining consequence and decreases over time. |
|---|---|
| Attention extinction | An extinction procedure for attention-maintained behavior in which the problem behavior no longer produces attention from others. |
| Escape extinction | An extinction procedure for escape-maintained behavior in which problem behavior no longer ends, delays or avoids the demand or situation. |
| Sensory extinction | An extinction procedure for automatically reinforced behavior in which the sensory consequence the behavior produces is blocked, reduced or masked. |
| Planned ignoring | Deliberately withholding social attention, such as eye contact, talk and physical contact, for a brief period following a specific behavior, as written in the plan. |
| Function of behavior | The reason a behavior keeps happening, defined by the reinforcing consequence that maintains it, such as attention, escape, tangible items or automatic reinforcement. |
| Intermittent reinforcement | A schedule in which only some occurrences of a behavior are reinforced, as in fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval and variable-interval schedules. |
| Replacement behavior | An appropriate behavior taught and reinforced to take the place of problem behavior, ideally producing the same reinforcer more easily. |
| Extinction burst | A temporary increase in the frequency, duration or intensity of a behavior soon after extinction begins. |
| Automatic reinforcement | Reinforcement produced directly by the behavior itself, without being delivered or arranged by another person. |
| Negative punishment | Removing a stimulus, usually a reinforcer, immediately after a behavior, with the result that the behavior occurs less often in the future. |
| Continuous reinforcement | Continuous reinforcement (CRF) is a schedule in which every occurrence of the target behavior is reinforced. |
| Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) | Reinforcing a specific appropriate behavior that is an alternative to problem behavior while placing the problem behavior on extinction. |
| Negative reinforcement | Negative reinforcement occurs when a stimulus is removed or reduced right after a behavior and, as a result, that behavior becomes more likely in the future. |
| Attention function | A behavior has an attention function when it is maintained by social positive reinforcement in the form of other people's attention. |
| Mand | A verbal operant in which a person asks for what they want or need; it is controlled by a motivating operation and reinforced by receiving the specific thing requested. |
| Escape function | A behavior has an escape function when it is maintained by negative reinforcement: it ends, delays or avoids a task, demand, person or situation. |
| Functional communication training (FCT) | A type of differential reinforcement in which the client is taught a communication response that produces the same reinforcer as problem behavior, while problem behavior is placed on extinction. |
| Tangible function | A behavior has a tangible function when it is maintained by social positive reinforcement in the form of access to preferred items or activities. |