Final answer:
Diamond's son's whining is likely to persist for some time before it is extinguished due to the past intermittent reinforcement. An initial increase in whining, called an extinction burst, may occur, but if Diamond consistently ignores the behavior, it should eventually decrease.
Step-by-step explanation:
Long time for Diamond to extinguish her son's whining:
It will likely take a long time for Diamond to extinguish her son's whining because the behavior was intermittently reinforced, which can create a persistent response pattern. When addressing Diamond's strategy to extinguish her son's whining by ignoring it, we must consider the principles of operant conditioning. Previously, Diamond responded to her son's whining every fourth instance. This intermittent schedule of reinforcement typically leads to a behavior that is very resistant to extinction. The reason for this is that the child has learned that persistence pays off, even if not every attempt is successful.
When Diamond decides to ignore the whining completely, her son may initially whine more—a phenomenon known as an extinction burst, where the behavior temporarily increases in frequency, duration, or intensity when reinforcement is withheld. However, if ignoring the behavior is applied consistently, over time, the whining should decrease. Yet due to the previous intermittent reinforcement, the process can take significantly longer than if the behavior had been consistently reinforced or not reinforced at all. It's essential for Diamond to maintain consistent application of ignoring the behavior for extinguishing it to be effective.