proof

my youngest daughter is at a stage in which being introduced to a new stimulus will create a change in behavior, including the extinguishing of a different behavior.  for example, a recent bit of crying ended when i brought her close to the christmas tree and all it’s sparkles and lights and scent.  i started out this thought be referring to this as a stage…the first time i wrote it i called it ‘the’ stage.  then it occurred to me that perhaps this is not a singular time for my daughter…that the introduction of new stimuli creates change in behavior.  that is something i face though not so successfully when i purposely want to extinguish a behavior.  let’s say i have a way of acting or being that i find less than helpful…that is really not what i want to be about.  to extinguish the behavior requires more than my mere introduction of a new stimulus…there has to be a pairing of competing stimuli and perhaps over which i have limited control, in order for there to be a meaningful change.  or so it seems