When Gregory, one of the sons of one of the authors, was 3 years old, his mom and Dad left him with his grandma while they went on a 4-day trip. The first evening after their return, Gregory and his parents were having dinner at the dining room table. After eating the food on his plate, Gregory held up his empty plate and yelled "Dessert! Dessert! Dessert!" His parents looked at each other in surprise and ignored Gregory's yelling. Gregory yelled, "Dessert!" two more times, and then put his plate down and sat quietly. After several minutes of quietness, his mother said, "Gregory you're sitting nice and quiet. I will get you your dessert."

During a discussion of the episode with Gregory's Grandma, who did not hear very well, Grandma explained that she had given Gregory dessert each time he yelled loud enough for her to hear him. Obviously, she had reinforced Gregory's yelling behavior. His parents ignored his yelling for dessert at the next two dinners and gave him dessert only after sitting quietly for several minutes after eating the food on his plate. After three such dinners, Gregory's yelling for dessert no longer occurred.

Define the behavior operationally.

Describe the antecedent to the behavior.

Describe the consequences of the behavior.

Describe positive and negative reinforcement contingencies that occur as a result of engaging in the behavior. (Hint: Think about what is maintaining your identified behavior and what you will be withholding when you implement the extinction procedure.)

Identify procedures that can end up reinforcing the unwanted target behavior and explain the potential results of improperly implementing these procedures that were meant to help extinguish the unwanted target behavior.

Identify the extinction techniques that you feel will most effectively reduce the target behavior, and explain why you feel these will be most effective. (Hint: Think back to your identified positive and negative reinforcements to help you identify what you should be withholding to change the behavior through an extinction procedure.)