Extinction in ABA (applied behavior analysis) is the process of reducing an unwanted behavior by removing the reinforcement that keeps it going. When a behavior stops producing the response it used to get, it gradually fades and eventually stops. It’s one of the most commonly used procedures in ABA therapy, and understanding how it works helps explain both why certain behaviors persist and how they can be changed.
How Extinction Works
Every behavior that repeats does so because it’s being reinforced in some way. A child who throws a tantrum and gets attention from a parent is being reinforced by that attention. An employee who interrupts colleagues and gets acknowledged is being reinforced by the reaction. Extinction targets this loop directly: you identify what’s reinforcing the behavior, then stop providing it. Without that payoff, the behavior loses its purpose and decreases over time.
The critical first step is figuring out what the reinforcement actually is. This varies widely. Some behaviors are maintained by attention, others by access to a preferred item or activity, and others by escape from something unpleasant (like a difficult task). A child who screams during homework might be reinforced by the parent eventually saying “fine, take a break.” In that case, extinction would mean no longer allowing the screaming to produce the break. The procedure looks different depending on the function of the behavior, but the principle is the same: the behavior no longer works.
What Extinction Is Not
Extinction is not punishment. This distinction matters. Punishment involves delivering a consequence after a behavior to reduce it, meaning something happens in response to the behavior. With extinction, the opposite is true: nothing happens. The reinforcement the behavior previously earned simply stops being delivered. There’s no added negative consequence, no reprimand, no removal of privileges. The behavior just stops producing its usual result.
Extinction is also not the same as forgetting. Forgetting happens passively when time passes without practice. Extinction is an active process where the link between a behavior and its reinforcement is deliberately broken while the behavior is still occurring.
The Extinction Burst
One of the most important things to understand about extinction is that behavior almost always gets worse before it gets better. This temporary spike is called an extinction burst. When a behavior that previously worked suddenly stops working, the person typically tries harder. The behavior may increase in frequency, last longer, or become more intense. New variations of the behavior can also appear. A child whose tantrum is being ignored might scream louder, cry longer, or start hitting things when the original tantrum doesn’t produce results.
Research published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis describes three common byproducts during an extinction burst: the target behavior temporarily increases in frequency or intensity, other forms of the same type of behavior emerge (face slapping partially replacing head banging, for example), or entirely new problem behaviors appear, including aggression. These bursts typically happen early, often within the first few minutes or even seconds of the extinction procedure being introduced, and they disappear with continued, consistent exposure to extinction.
The extinction burst is where many people give in, and that’s the worst possible outcome. If a parent ignores a tantrum for ten minutes, the child escalates to screaming, and the parent then gives in, the child has learned that escalation works. This accidentally reinforces a more intense version of the behavior. Consistency through the burst is essential for extinction to succeed.
Spontaneous Recovery
Even after a behavior has been successfully reduced through extinction, it can reappear. This is called spontaneous recovery, and it’s a well-documented phenomenon where an extinguished behavior re-emerges after a period of time has passed. It doesn’t mean the extinction failed.
The reason this happens relates to how the brain stores competing associations. The original learning (“this behavior gets me what I want”) doesn’t get erased during extinction. Instead, a newer, competing association forms (“this behavior no longer gets me what I want”). Over time, the newer association can fade faster than the original one, allowing the old behavior to resurface temporarily. Research in experimental psychology has confirmed that second-learned associations tend to weaken more quickly than first-learned ones, regardless of what type of learning is involved.
When spontaneous recovery occurs, the key is to continue withholding reinforcement. The behavior will typically extinguish again more quickly than it did the first time.
Pairing Extinction With Reinforcement
In practice, extinction is rarely used alone. It’s most effective when combined with reinforcement of an alternative, more appropriate behavior. This approach is called differential reinforcement of alternative behavior, or DRA. The logic is straightforward: you stop reinforcing the problem behavior while simultaneously reinforcing a better way to get the same result.
For a child who screams to get a parent’s attention, extinction alone would mean ignoring the screaming. DRA adds a second piece: teaching and reinforcing an appropriate way to request attention, like tapping the parent’s arm or using words. The child still gets their need met, just through a different behavior. Research in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior found that DRA combined with extinction produced greater and more durable reductions in destructive behavior compared to DRA without extinction. Across multiple experiments, problem behavior was consistently lower both during and after treatment when extinction was part of the approach.
When Extinction Is Not Appropriate
There are situations where extinction should not be used, or where it requires significant safety planning. The most obvious is when the behavior poses a serious physical risk. If a child engages in severe self-injury like head banging, an extinction burst could temporarily increase the intensity of that behavior, creating a dangerous situation. The same applies to high-intensity aggression toward others. Researchers have specifically recommended that extinction-based procedures only be used with individuals whose problem behavior can be safely managed during the expected burst period.
Practical constraints also matter. Extinction requires that every person in the individual’s environment withholds reinforcement consistently. If a child’s tantrum is ignored by one parent but rewarded by the other, or ignored at home but reinforced at school, the procedure breaks down. This inconsistency can actually make the behavior more resistant to change by placing it on what’s called an intermittent reinforcement schedule, which strengthens behavior rather than weakening it.
There are also situations where extinction is physically impractical. If the procedure requires blocking or redirecting a behavior from a person who is significantly larger or stronger than the therapist or caregiver, implementation becomes unreliable and potentially unsafe.
Ethical Considerations
Extinction has drawn criticism from some autism rights and neurodiversity advocates, particularly around the use of planned ignoring with autistic children. Critics have argued that extinction, especially ignoring a child in distress, conflicts with what developmental research shows about the importance of responsive caregiving and can be a source of trauma. A review in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders examined these claims and found that existing research on extinction does not provide evidence that the procedure causes trauma. However, the review also noted that most studies evaluating extinction have never directly measured for trauma as an outcome, making it impossible to fully rule out the concern.
This gap in the research has led to recommendations that behavior analysts engage in meaningful discussions with the individuals they work with (and their families) about what extinction involves, why it’s being used, and how it will be implemented. The procedure’s effectiveness is well established, but its application requires thoughtfulness about the individual’s history, emotional needs, and the specific context in which it’s being used.