ABA Terminology Challenge ➠ Negative Punishment vs. Extinction
April 22, 2023
Let’s break down the difference between extinction and negative punishment. These are two terms that are often confused in test questions. I think the confusion lies first, with the similarity that the two principles share, which is the result of a decrease in behavior. But, their difference is what’s important. That difference lies in the way the consequence is delivered, which then results in that future decrease. This is where people really mistake the two terms. It’s the difference between removing and withholding.
Removing means that the reinforcer is already in the person’s possession, whether it be a tangible item, access to an activity, or attention. For those things to be removed, they must be something that the client currently has in their possession and likes. Then, contingent on the behavior, that element is removed, and that loss is so aversive that in the future, any behavior that resulted in that loss decreases. And that’s negative punishment – the removal of something good.
Versus extinction. This is withholding something good. A behavior that usually produces a reinforcer occurs, and with the extinction procedure, that same behavior does not get met with that reinforcer (that tangible activity). They don’t get the reinforcer that they are expecting which is contingent on the behavior. During the extinction procedure, the behavior does not produce reinforcement. Since it no longer produces reinforcement, the behavior decreases because that behavior is no longer effective. Think about it like this: with punishment, we remove; with extinction, we don’t give.
