Escape extinction involves which approach?

• A. Allowing Avoidance of the Task
• B. Providing the Task Away from the Child
• C. Ignoring the Behavior
• D. Not Allowing Avoidance and Keeping the Task Near the Child Until They Attempt It

Answer: (D)

Escape extinction targets the removal of the chance to escape a demand. By not allowing avoidance and keeping the task near the child until they attempt it, the child is faced with the demand repeatedly and cannot escape to escape reinforcement. This helps the child learn to engage with the task because the previously reinforcing escape is no longer available, shifting reinforcement to task participation.

Choosing strategies that let the child avoid the task or move the task away would allow escape to be reinforced, which is why those approaches aren’t aligned with escape extinction. Ignoring the behavior doesn’t actively prevent the escape response, so it doesn’t reliably reduce escape-maintained behavior.