Michael, as others have mentioned, I agree that these sorts of situations can lend themselves to multiple interpretations. Of course, I can see this video as Lois' attempt to extinguish Stewie's behavior, but an attempt that ultimately fails. As such, I would not use to illustrate that concept. In my mind, Lois' giving-in response serves to ultimately reinforce the many nagging 'mom', 'mommy', 'mama', thus my call for either a variable ratio/interval. I ask those in the know for a correction if my interpretation is incorrect.
Because the scenario depicted in the video is analogous to many real-life instances of nagging children, I think the video is ideal for use in classes as a funny way to illustrate these important principles and I thank you very much for sharing it. Miguel From: "Michael Britt" <[email protected]> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, October 25, 2013 8:14:25 AM 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=1133043.af3ec43309a63197bc82eb6702801542&n=T&l=tips&o=29085 or send a blank email to leave-29085-1133043.af3ec43309a63197bc82eb6702801...@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=29107 or send a blank email to leave-29107-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
