Just to muddy the waters more, it could be considered to be an example of Differential Reinforcement of High Rate. If you consider the normal rate of saying 'mom' during the day. She wasn't reinforcing that response until it became a large number of responses in a short time. Only reinforcing responses when they get to the extreme could be a procedure for teaching your kid to be annoying or throw tantrums.
I think that Michael's concern about the varied responses to learning topics might be due to the fact that many people just memorize the basic definitions derived from simple, artificial Skinner box situations and are not able to translate this into the much more complex real world. Also, the same behavior might sometimes be interpreted in more than one way. This could be the only exposure to learning principles a student gets. However, it could be very useful in the near future for young people since many will be having children (or pets or spouses) who will be affected by their behavior. I'm not sure that keeping the portrayal of learning principles the simplest possible, and lessening the likelihood that they will be able to use this information in their lives, is doing them a favor. Is our goal to give them a set of terms which they can memorize or to impart real psychology information? Rick Stevens Department of Behavioral Sciences University of Louisiana at Monroe [email protected] OSGrid - Evert Snicks On Fri, Oct 25, 2013 at 7:49 AM, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: > I agree but I would choose to take the illustration a bit further, even > for intro students, to note that what might be intended as extinction can, > when it fails, produce a more extinction-resistant strain of reinforcement. > > Rick > > Dr. Rick Froman, Chair > Division of Humanities and Social Sciences > Box 3519 > x7295 > [email protected] > http://bit.ly/DrFroman > > Proverbs 14:15 "A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives > thought to his steps." > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Michael Britt [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Friday, October 25, 2013 7:14 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: Re: [tips] Funny Example of Extinction > > It seems that whenever a post appears on TIPS about behavioral principles > - such as my own regarding the Family Guy YouTube video - there is a back > and forth about which aspect of behavioral theory the idea represents. It > makes you want to not post anything on TIPS that is behaviorally related > just to avoid these kinds of back and forths in which, in the end, it's > hard to know what to think anymore (I'm sure there's an example of a > behavioral principle at work right there - but I don't want to go into > that). > > So let me ask this: can we agree that the video ( > http://youtu.be/aOLxQGLJouI) could be used in an introductory psychology > class as an example of how a mother who wants to take a nap is attempting > to extinguish her child's interruption behavior by not responding to it > (i.e, reinforcing it)? > > Yes, her attempt fails in the end when she clearly and understandably > loses patience with the child, but that just shows how difficult the > extinction process can be. > > Could the video serve as a (funny) illustration of the extinction process? > > Remember - we're talking about introductory psychology students - many of > whom will not go on to become psychology majors. > > Michael > > > Michael A. Britt, Ph.D. > [email protected] > http://www.ThePsychFiles.com > Twitter: @mbritt > > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13039.37a56d458b5e856d05bcfb3322db5f8a&n=T&l=tips&o=29085 > or send a blank email to > leave-29085-13039.37a56d458b5e856d05bcfb3322db5...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13526.d532f8e870faf8a0d8f6433b7952f38d&n=T&l=tips&o=29088 > or send a blank email to > leave-29088-13526.d532f8e870faf8a0d8f6433b7952f...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=29091 or send a blank email to leave-29091-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
