Extinction
a. The act of extinguishing.
b. The condition of being extinguished.
2. The fact of being extinct or the process of becoming extinct: "The most effective agent in the extinction of species is the pressure of other species" (Alfred R. Wallace).
3. Psychology A reduction or a loss in the strength or rate of a conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus or reinforcement is withheld.
4. Physiology A gradual decrease in the excitability of a nerve to a previously adequate stimulus, usually resulting in total loss of excitability.
1. the act of making extinct or the state of being extinct
2. the act of extinguishing or the state of being extinguished
3. complete destruction; annihilation
4. (Physics / General Physics) Physics reduction of the intensity of radiation as a result of absorption or scattering by matter
5. (Astronomy) Astronomy the dimming of light from a celestial body as it passes through an absorbing or scattering medium, such as the earth's atmosphere or interstellar dust
6. (Psychology) Psychol a process in which the frequency or intensity of a learned response is decreased as a result of reinforcement being withdrawn Compare habituation
1. the act of extinguishing.
2. the state of being extinguished or extinct.
3. the act or process of becoming extinct: the extinction of a species.
4. the reduction or loss of a conditioned response as a result of the absence or withdrawal of reinforcement.
5. the darkness that results from rotation of a thin section to an angle (extinc′tion an`gle) at which plane-polarized light is absorbed by the polarizer.
