Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) Practice Test

What behavioral process is demonstrated by ignoring a child's tantrum until it stops, leading to a decrease in future tantrums?

1. Reinforcement

2. Extinction

3. Negative reinforcement

4. Discrimination

The correct answer is: Extinction

The scenario described illustrates the process of extinction, which occurs when a previously reinforced behavior is no longer reinforced, resulting in a decrease in that behavior over time. In this case, the child’s tantrums were likely being reinforced in the past—perhaps by attention, comfort, or some form of response from adults. By deliberately ignoring the tantrums, no reinforcement is provided, leading to the eventual reduction of future tantrums as the child learns that this behavior does not yield the desired outcome. In the context of behavioral analysis, extinction specifically entails the removal of the reinforcing consequence that maintains the behavior. As the ignored tantrums continue without reinforcement, the intensity and frequency of the tantrums decrease, illustrating the principle behind extinguishing a behavior. Other processes like reinforcement or negative reinforcement involve increasing a behavior by providing a reinforcing stimulus, which is not applicable in this situation. Discrimination refers to the ability to distinguish between different stimuli and respond differently, which is also not relevant to the described behavior. Therefore, focusing on the absence of reinforcement in relation to the child’s tantrums clearly aligns with the concept of extinction.