Family Therapy II Practice Exam

Extinction burst describes a temporary increase in the frequency or intensity of a behavior when reinforcement is removed. When a behavior is no longer reinforced, the organism often reacts first with a brief spike in responding as it tests whether reinforcement will return or as it tries harder to obtain it. This initial surge is followed by a gradual decrease in the behavior as the reinforcement failure becomes clear and the response is no longer reinforced.

Understanding this helps you anticipate what might look like a worsening of behavior at the start of extinction and reinforces the need to maintain consistent non-reinforcement to allow the behavior to decline. Other terms listed refer to different processes (for example, systematic desensitization involves gradual exposure to reduce fear, while the others relate to distinct concepts in family or systemic therapy) and do not describe the immediate spike seen when reinforcement stops.