Thursday, May 07, 2026

Extinction Rage Suppose you train a monkey to push a button, by rewarding it with a banana every time. Then you stop giving it bananas.

What happens next is called Extinction Rage (technically, "Frustrative Nonreward.") Dr. InsensitiveJerk@DrInsensitive
The monkey becomes angry and agitated. 
You may have experienced something similar, when a vending machine took your money and gave you nothing in return. 
Extinction rage may be accompanies by an "Extinction burst." 
Paradoxically, when the bananas stop arriving, the monkey pushes the button more, at least for a while...

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