Extinction Burst: The Desperate Ways Extremists and their Movements React When Losing Ground

Extinction Burst: The Desperate Ways Extremists and their Movements React When Losing Ground

In this episode of PsyberSpace, host Leslie Poston explores the concept of extinction bursts—predictable patterns of intensifying behavior when long-standing negative behaviors lose effectiveness. Drawing on examples from political, social, and historical contexts, the episode explains how these bursts manifest in both individual and group behaviors, and why they're particularly relevant given today's rapid societal changes. The discussion extends to the effects of spontaneous recovery and emphasizes the importance of consistent societal response for building resilient and inclusive communities.

00:00 Introduction to Extinction Bursts
01:27 The Psychology of Extinction Bursts
02:15 Group Behavior and Extinction Bursts
07:46 Historical Parallels to Extinction Bursts
11:30 Spontaneous Recovery and Its Impact
14:52 Effective Responses and Community Resilience

We're up for an award from Women in Podcasting - our second award nomination ever!
Please click to vote here, and share the link to vote with your friends.

References:

Atran, S. (2020). Psychology of transnational terrorism and extreme political conflict. Annual Review of Psychology, 30.

Bouton, M., & Swartzentruber, D. (1991). Sources of relapse after extinction in Pavlovian and instrumental learning.

Bouton, M., Westbrook, R. F., Corcoran, K., & Maren, S. (2006). Contextual and temporal modulation of extinction: Behavioral and biological mechanisms. Biological Psychiatry, 663.

Cammarota, M., Bevilaqua, L. M., Vianna, M., Medina, J., & Izquierdo, I. (2007). The extinction of conditioned fear: structural and molecular basis and therapeutic use. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria, 40.

Delamater, A., Delamater, A., & Westbrook, R. F. (2014). Psychological and neural mechanisms of experimental extinction: A selective review. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 101.

Doughty, A. H., & Oken, G. (2008). Extinction-induced response resurgence: A selective review.

Dunsmoor, J., Niv, Y., Daw, N., & Phelps, E. (2015). Rethinking extinction. Neuron, 224.

Epstein, R. (1983). Resurgence of previously reinforced behavior during extinction, 191.

Fisher, W., Greer, B., Shahan, T., & Norris, H. M. (2022). Basic and applied research on extinction bursts. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 11.

Gallistel, C. R. (2012). Extinction from a rationalist perspective. Behavioural Processes, 50.

Huff, N., Hernandez, J., Blanding, N. Q., & LaBar, K. (2009). Delayed extinction attenuates conditioned fear renewal and spontaneous recovery in humans. Behavioral Neuroscience, 87.

Katz, B. R., & Lattal, K. (2020). What is an extinction burst?: A case study in the analysis of transitional behavior. Journal of The Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 16.

Kim, J., & Richardson, R. (2010). New findings on extinction of conditioned fear early in development: Theoretical and clinical implications. Biological Psychiatry, 187.

Kruglanski, A., Gelfand, M., Bélanger, J., Sheveland, A., Hetiarachchi, M., & Gunaratna, R. (2014). The psychology of radicalization and deradicalization: How significance quest impacts violent extremism.

Laborda, M. A., McConnell, B. L., & Miller, R. R. (2011). Associative learning and conditioning theory.

Lattal, K., & Pipkin, C. S. P. (2009). Resurgence of previously reinforced responding: Research and application.

Lerman, D., Iwata, B. A., & Wallace, M. D. (1999). Side effects of extinction: Prevalence of bursting and aggression during the treatment of self-injurious behavior. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.

Ler

Episode Transcript

Leslie Poston (00:12):
Welcome back to PsyberSpace. I'm your host,
Leslie Posten. And today we'reexploring a powerful
psychological framework thathelps us understand something
many people are struggling with.Why we're seeing such an
intense, rapid escalation inextremist behavior in The U S
from the streets on up to theOval Office and what it really

(00:34):
means. The key lies andunderstanding a phenomenon
called extinction bursts, apredictable pattern that occurs
when long standing negativebehaviors begin to lose their
effectiveness.
What looked like strength isoften actually a last gasp
before decline. Consider thedramatic siege of The US capital

(00:55):
on 01/06/2021, a vividillustration of an extinction
burst where extremist groupsfacing the loss of political
power reacted violently.Similarly, traditional
industries like coal mining havelaunched intense lobbying
efforts and public campaigns asrenewable energy sources gain

(01:15):
ground, showcasing how sectorsfacing obsolescence respond with
heightened aggression topreserve their relevance as
well. Concept of extinctionbursts emerged from behavioral
psychology and it offers usprofound insights into both
individual and group behavior.When a previous rewarded

(01:36):
behavior stops receivingreinforcement, it doesn't simply
disappear.
It often intensifiesdramatically before extinction.
This pattern is deeply rooted inhow our brains process the loss
of expected rewards. Think abouthow this manifests in everyday
life. A child who always gotattention by acting out will

(01:57):
temporarily escalate theirbehavior when their parents
begin ignoring it. A gamblerwho's losing money might bet
even more aggressively beforefinally quitting.
These individual examples helpus understand the larger social
dynamics at play. What makesthis pattern particularly
relevant today is how itmanifests in group behavior.

(02:20):
When groups that have heldsocial power for generations
often by brute force or otherharmful behaviors begin to lose
that power. They often react notwith quiet acceptance, but with
an intense escalation of thevery behaviors that are losing
effectiveness. This isn't a signof strength or resurgence.

(02:40):
It's actually a predictableresponse to losing power. The
psychology behind this isilluminating Groups, like
individuals, create feedbackloops that temporarily intensify
behaviors, losing their socialeffectiveness. Members validate
each other's fears and actions,creating echo chambers that can
make the extinction burst moredramatic and longer lasting than

(03:03):
individual cases. First, there'sthe phenomenon of group
polarization where members of agroup tend to adopt more extreme
positions than they wouldindividually. When a group feels
its power slipping, thispolarization intensifies.
Members don't just validate eachother's fears, they amplify them

(03:23):
pushing the group towards moreextreme positions and actions.
Second, groups develop sharednarratives about their loss of
power that can make theextinction burst more intense.
While an individual mighteventually recognize that their
behavior isn't working, groupscan create elaborate
explanations for why their lossof influence is temporary or

(03:45):
unjust fueling more extremeattempts to regain control.
Third groups provide somethingindividuals don't have a social
support system that cantemporarily shield members from
the consequences of theiractions. This social buffering
can make extinction bursts lastlonger because the usual social
pressures that might curtailextreme behavior are temporarily

(04:08):
blocked by the group's internalsupport system.
To understand why we're seeingsuch intense reactions now in
The US, we need to look at thebroader context of social
change. The United States OfTwenty Twenty Four is
dramatically different from TheUnited States of even a few
decades ago. We're seeingfundamental shifts in

(04:29):
demographics, values, and socialstructures that are making
previously dominant exclusionaryideologies increasingly
unsustainable. Consider thesechanges: younger generations are
the most diverse in U. S.
History. They're also moreeducated, more likely to support
inclusive policies, and lesslikely to hold traditional

(04:50):
hierarchical views aboutsociety. Urban areas, which tend
to be more diverse andprogressive, are growing while
rural populations decline.Traditional power structures are
being challenged by new forms oforganization and communication.
These changes create a profoundchallenge to those whose
identity and social positionwere built on an older, more

(05:14):
exclusionary system.
When people who are used tohaving their worldview dominate
society suddenly find itbecoming a minority position,
the psychological impact can besevere. And this helps explain
why we're seeing such dramaticreactions now. The
intensification of extremebehavior, whether in political

(05:34):
rhetoric, public displays, orunfortunately sometimes violence
isn't happening because thesemovements are growing stronger.
It's happening because theirsocial foundation is eroding
triggering these predictableextinction bursts. What makes
this moment unique is theunprecedented speed and scale of
these changes.

(05:56):
In previous generations, socialchange often happened gradually,
gradually enough forinstitutions to adapt. But
today's shifts are happening atan unprecedented pace driven by
multiple simultaneous forces,technological revolution,
climate change, economictransformation, and generational

(06:17):
turnover. The workforceexemplifies this rapid change.
Remote work is here to stay. Itdidn't just change where people
work.
It's transforming powerdynamics, community formation,
and even geographic votingpatterns. When people can live
anywhere while working,traditional geographic power
bases erode. We're seeing thisplay out in places like Texas

(06:40):
and Georgia, where an influx ofremote workers is rapidly
shifting longstanding politicaland social dynamics. Education
is another catalyst. It's notjust that younger generations
are more educated.
They're educated differentlywith greater emphasis on
critical thinking and globalperspectives. This educational
shift comes as informationgatekeepers lose power. When

(07:04):
anyone can fact check claims inreal time or access primary
sources directly, traditionalauthority structures struggle to
control narratives, whichexplains the extinction burst
targeting education right now.These overlapping changes create
what sociologists call a cascadeeffect. Each change accelerates
and amplifies others.

(07:26):
When youth who grew up withdiverse online communities enter
the workforce with differentexpectations, they change
workplace culture as well, whichaffects economic patterns, which
influences political power,which shapes social norms, and
so on in a self reinforcingcycle of change. These patterns

(07:47):
we're seeing today aren't new.History provides us with
numerous examples of extinctionbursts in response to social
change. Examples can help usunderstand our current moment.
The civil rights era provides aparticularly relevant parallel.
As the legal and socialfoundations of segregation began
to crumble, its supportersdidn't simply accept the change.

(08:09):
Instead, they intensified theirresistance, often violently.
This wasn't a sign ofsegregation's moral superiority
or strength it was an extinctionburst that occurred precisely
because the harmful system was,rightly, losing its grip on
society. The more evident itbecame that legal segregation
was ending, the more extreme itsdefenders became. We saw similar

(08:32):
patterns during women'ssuffrage.
As women's right to vote becameincreasingly inevitable,
opponents didn't quietly acceptthe change. They escalated their
rhetoric and their tactics. Andagain, this escalation was not a
sign of strength but rather alast gasp reaction to losing
power. Internationally, we sawthis pattern with colonial

(08:53):
powers in the twentieth century.As independence movements gained
momentum, many colonial regimesinitially responded with
increased oppression andviolence.
This wasn't a sign ofcolonialism's vitality, but
rather an extinction burst astheir power waned. Looking at
more recent history, we saw thispattern during desegregation in

(09:14):
South Africa. As apartheid beganto crumble in the 1980s, the
regime's actions becameincreasingly extreme. The state
of emergency declared in 1985represented a dramatic
escalation of oppressive tacticsprecisely when international
pressure and internal resistancewere making apartheid's end
inevitable. Looking again at thedesegregation of the American

(09:38):
South's schools, we see howseveral states intensified
segregationist policies withsome even shutting down their
entire public school systemrather than integrate.
Prince Edward County, Virginiaclosed all public schools from
1959 to 1964, creating privatewhite academies instead. This

(09:58):
extreme reaction, depriving allchildren of public education,
shows how extinction bursts canlead to self defeating and self
destructive behavior. We can seesimilar patterns in workplace
discrimination. When women beganentering traditionally male
dominated professions in largernumbers in the 1970s, many
institutions responded byintensifying discriminatory

(10:21):
practices. Medical schools, lawfirms, and financial
institutions often made theirexclusionary practices more
explicit and extreme just asthey were losing the legal and
social authority to maintainthem.
The key insight from thesehistorical examples is that the
intensity of the extinctionburst often correlates with how

(10:42):
fundamental the threatenedchange is to existing power
structures. When surface levelprivileges are threatened, the
reaction might be milder, butwhen changes threaten core power
structures and identities, theextinction burst tends to be
more extreme and often more selfdestructive. Looking at history
also shows us the importance ofconsistent pressure. In cases

(11:05):
where society maintained steadypressure for change, like the
international anti apartheidmovement or the civil rights
movement, extinction burstseventually gave way to real
transformation. But in caseswhere pressure was inconsistent
or resistance was rewarded,harmful systems were able to
adapt and persist in new forms.

(11:28):
After an instigation burst comesanother important phenomenon
spontaneous recovery. Thissounds positive, but this is
actually when behaviors thatseem to have disappeared briefly
resurface like an echo of thepast. The behavior might return,
but without reinforcement, eachrecurrence becomes weaker than

(11:48):
the last. This helps explain whywe sometimes see resurgences of
extremist ideologies duringtimes of social stress or
economic uncertainty. Thesearen't new growths.
They're temporary resurgences ofold patterns. The key is
understanding that theseresurgences become progressively
weaker unless they find newsources of social reinforcement.

(12:11):
This brings us to a criticalpoint. The duration and
intensity of both extinctionbursts and spontaneous recovery
depend heavily on societalresponse. When society maintains
consistent non reinforcement ofharmful behaviors, extinction
bursts tend to be shorter andspontaneous recovery weaker.

(12:34):
Consider social media platforms'responses to extremist content.
When platforms maintainconsistent enforcement of
community standards, extremistbehavior tends to decline more
quickly. When enforcement isinconsistent, the extinction
burst can drag on longer andspontaneous recovery becomes
more likely. The same principleapplies to broader society. When

(12:59):
institutions from media to lawenforcement to educational
systems maintain consistentresponses to extremist behavior,
the extinction burst phaseshortens.
When responses are inconsistentor when some institutions
actually provide reinforcement,the process takes longer. Let's
look specifically at how mediasystems affect these patterns.

(13:22):
Traditional media outlets caneither help end an extinction
burst or inadvertently prolongit. When media consistently
contextualizes extreme behaviorrather than sensationalizing it,
they help society maintain asteady response. But when some
outlets amplify or normalizeextreme rhetoric for ratings or

(13:44):
engagement, they provide exactlythe kind of intermittent
reinforcement can extend andworsen an extinction burst.
Social media platforms facesimilar challenges, but on a
faster and larger scale, thealgorithmic amplification of
extreme content can create whatI call extinction burst
accelerators. Feedback loopswhere the most extreme

(14:06):
expressions get the mostengagement, temporarily
convincing groups that theirbehavior is working even as it
pushes them further frommainstream acceptance. The
fracturing of our informationecosystem into separate reality
bubbles presents anotherchallenge. When groups can
completely insulate themselvesfrom contrary information, they

(14:27):
can temporarily avoid thenegative feedback that would
normally help end an extinctionburst. This is why consistent
enforcement of platformpolicies, while sometimes
controversial or annoying, playsuch an important role in the
process.
Understanding these patternsisn't just about explaining

(14:47):
what's happening. It's aboutknowing how to respond
effectively. Three keyprinciples emerged from both
psychological research andhistorical experience. Let's
talk about what successfulcommunity resilience looks like
in practice. Across the country,we're seeing examples of
communities that have foundeffective ways to reduce

(15:08):
vulnerability to extremism andshorten extinction bursts
through proactive communitybuilding.
First, strengthening socialbonds means creating concrete
opportunities for meaningfulconnection. This isn't about
superficial networking. It'sabout deep community engagement
Even with people you don't like.Some communities have had

(15:30):
success with intergenerationalmentoring programs that connect
older and younger communitymembers. Others have created
community projects that bringdiverse groups together around
shared goals like communitygardens or local improvement
initiatives.
The key is creating whatsociologists call bridging
capital connections betweendifferent groups within a

(15:51):
community, not just within yourexisting social circle. When
people have strong connectionsacross different parts of their
community, they're less likelyto be drawn into us versus them
narratives that fuel extinctionbursts. Maintaining
institutional integrity requiresactive community participation.

(16:11):
Communities that maintainregular dialogue between law
enforcement and diversecommunity groups, for example,
tend to be more resilient.Transparent local government
processes, active civicorganizations, and strong local
media all play essential rolesas well.
Education plays a particularlyimportant role, which is why

(16:33):
it's often a target. Communitiesthat maintain strong adult
education programs, forinstance, often see reduced
vulnerability to extremistmessaging. This isn't just about
formal education. It's aboutcreating opportunities for
lifelong learning and skilldevelopment that help people
adapt to changing economicconditions. The most successful

(16:56):
communities approach this workholistically.
They recognize that economicdevelopment, social connection,
and institutional strength areall interconnected. When a
community invests in all ofthese areas simultaneously, they
create a resilience that makesit harder for extinction bursts
to gain traction and easier forpositive change to take root.

(17:18):
Second, addressing root causes.Economic insecurity and social
isolation make people morevulnerable during times of
change. When people feel secureand connected, they're less
likely to be drawn intoextinction bursts or moments of
spontaneous recovery.
This means addressing issueslike income inequality, access

(17:40):
to education, and communityresources. Third, maintaining
institutional integrity. Strong,trusted institutions help
society maintain consistentresponses to harmful behaviors
while providing reliablealternatives. This includes
everything from effective lawenforcement to reliable media to

(18:00):
transparent governance. Thisincludes everything from
effective social programsalongside law enforcement to
reliable media to transparentgovernance.
When people trust institutionsto be fair and effective,
they're less likely to seeksolutions and extremist
alternatives. Understandingextinction bursts and

(18:21):
spontaneous recovery gives uspowerful tools for interpreting
our current moment. When we seeintensifying extreme behavior,
we can recognize it as a signnot of growing strength but of a
predictable psychologicalpattern indicating decline. This
understanding doesn't mean thatwe can be complacent or comply

(18:41):
in advance. Extinction burstscan cause real harm and
consistent societal response isvital.
Annoying these patterns helps usmaintain perspective and respond
more effectively. The key isconsistency: in our response to
harmful behaviors, in buildinginclusive communities, and in
addressing underlying socialissues. The future isn't found

(19:05):
in escalating responses toextinction bursts, but in
building the kind of societythat makes them obsolete. When
we understand the psychologicalpatterns at play, we can focus
our energy, not just on opposingharmful movements, but on
creating stronger, moreresilient, and more inclusive
communities. We have to buildour utopian future.

(19:25):
It won't just generate itselfautomatically. Before I sign off
for the day, I'd like to thankwomen in podcasting. This
podcast is nominated for anaward again this year, and I
couldn't be happier. I'll put alink to vote in the show notes.
Thank you for joining us onPsyber space again, and don't
forget to like and subscribe soyou don't miss an episode.
I'm your host, Leslie Posten,signing off. Until next time,

(19:49):
keep exploring the fascinatingconnections between psychology
and society. As always, staycurious.