Getting a New Behavior to Occur: An Application of Shaping Chapter 10

Definition Shaping Five aspects of behavior that can be shaped Development of a new behavior by successive reinforcement of closer approximations and extinguishing of preceding approximations of behavior Five aspects of behavior that can be shaped Topography – specific movements involved Frequency – number of instances that occur in a given period of time Duration – length of time a response lasts Latency – time between occurrence of a stimulus and the response evoked by that stimulus Intensity – force of a response; physical effect the response has on the environment

Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Shaping Specifying the final desired behavior Terminal behavior – final desired behavior Specify precise behavior and conditions under which it is to occur Choosing a starting behavior Should be a behavior that occurs often enough to reinforce within session time Should be a behavior that approximates the final desired behavior

Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Shaping Choosing the shaping steps Helpful to outline the approximations that will be reinforced Moving along at the correct pace Reinforce an approximation at least several times before proceeding to the next step Avoid reinforcing too many times at any shaping step If behavior is lost because the program was moving too fast, or the steps were too big, return to an earlier approximation

Pitfalls of Shaping Shaping can be accidentally applied with unfortunate results Harmful behaviors may be accidentally shaped Undesirable behaviors can be eliminated by combination of extinction of undesirable behavior and reinforcement of desirable behavior May be difficult because: Behavior is sometimes too harmful Inexperienced individuals may unknowingly foil the efforts of those who are conscientiously attempting to apply these principles Children may not get the necessary shaping to develop basic behaviors i.e. developing speech

Guidelines for the Effective Application of Shaping Set the terminal behavior Select an appropriate reinforcer Develop the initial plan Implement the plan Tell learner about plan before starting Begin reinforcing immediately following each occurrence of the starting behavior Never move to new approximation until the previous one is mastered If learner stops working, may have moved up the steps too quickly, steps may not be the right size, or the reinforcer may be ineffective