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 rfro...@jbu.edu 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:mich...@thepsychfiles.com] 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. mich...@thepsychfiles.com http://www.ThePsychFiles.com Twitter: @mbritt --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: rfro...@jbu.edu. 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: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=29088 or send a blank email to leave-29088-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
