ABSTRACT
The basic point is that consequences of a certain behaviour can serve to increase or decrease the likelihood of that behaviour recurring in response to particular antecedents in the future. Behaviour is more likely to be repeated if the consequences of it are experienced as pleasant or rewarding, and less likely to be repeated if it has had unpleasant consequences. Consider what the immediate consequence of the child’s avoidant behavior might be. First, the behaviour serves the function of removing the aversive external stimulus of the squawking noise; and second, as a result, it removes the aversive internal stimulus of anxiety. The child’s action has resulted in a good outcome, thereby increasing the chances that the child will act in the same, or at least functionally similar, way the next time a comparable situation occurs. Extinction is the term used to describe the situation when a behaviour declines in frequency because it is not reinforced or the reinforcement ceases.
