Summary: Extinction means you stop delivering the reinforcer that's been keeping a problem behavior going. Do it right and the behavior fades. But the procedure has to match the function, you have to ride out the burst without caving, and you almost never run it alone. This page walks through all four function-based versions, the burst, spontaneous recovery, and the traps the exam sets.
Here's the one-sentence version: extinction is when you stop reinforcing a behavior that used to get reinforced, and over time the behavior dies out. That's it. Everything else is detail.
The catch is that "stop reinforcing" looks completely different depending on why the behavior was happening. If a kid hits to get your attention, extinction means you stop giving attention. If a kid hits to get out of work, extinction means the work stays. Same word, opposite procedures. Get the function wrong and you can make things worse, fast.
As an RBT, you'll run extinction as written in a behavior plan, under your BCBA's supervision. You won't design it. But you absolutely have to understand it, because you're the one in the room when the screaming gets louder, and that's exactly the moment people accidentally blow the whole thing up.
What extinction is actually doing
Behavior keeps happening because it works. It produces something the person wants, or removes something they don't. That payoff is the reinforcer. Extinction breaks the connection. The behavior keeps producing nothing.
That's the free preview of Extinction. The complete guide, plus all 851 practice questions and 3 full exams, is in the study pack and the book.