You love ice cream cones and usually stop each afternoon by the college snack shop for a cone on the way back to the dorm. However, for the last week, the snack shop has not had any ice cream. If you stop going to this snack shop, it is due to:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Extinction in behavioral psychology refers to the gradual weakening and eventual disappearance of a conditioned response (in this case, stopping by the snack shop for ice cream) when the reinforcement (the ice cream) is no longer provided. Since the snack shop hasn't had any ice cream for a week, your behavior of stopping there is no longer reinforced, leading to extinction of the behavior.

You Love Ice Cream Cones and Usually Stop Each Afternoon