1. Changing the Control of a Behavior with Fading
Chapter 9
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2. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Fading
Fading
Gradual change over successive trials of a stimulus that controls a response so that the response eventually occurs to a partially changed or completely new stimulus
Process of slowly removing prompts after behavior is established
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

3. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Fading
Useful in a situation in which a stimulus exerts strong control of a response to be taught to occur to some other stimulus
Advantages over trial and error procedures:
Errors consume time
If an error occurs, it tends to occur many times, even though it is being extinguished
Nonreinforcement of errors (extinguishing of errors) produces emotional side effects
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4. Dimensions of Stimuli for Fading
Fading occurs along dimensions of stimuli
Dimension – any characteristic that can be measured on some continuum
Fading can occur across specific stimulus dimensions and across changes in general situation or setting
Ex: physical structure of room; number of other people present
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5. Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Fading
Choosing the final desired stimulus (FDS)
Stimulus that we want to evoke or produce the behavior at the end of the fading procedure
Important to select FDS in whose presence responding will be maintained in natural environment
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6. Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Fading
Choosing the starting stimulus – prompt
Stimulus that reliably evokes the desired behavior
Teacher behavior as prompts
Physical prompts/physical guidance – touching the learner to guide him appropriately
Gestural prompts – pointing, making motions without touching, etc.
Modeling prompts – demonstrating correct behavior
Verbal prompts – verbal hints or cues
Environmental alterations as prompts
Altering the physical environment to evoke desired response
Extra-stimulus vs. within-stimulus prompts
Extra-stimulus – something that is added
Within-stimulus – alterations to the SD or S∆ to make them more noticeable and easier to discriminate
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7. Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Fading
Choosing the fading steps:
Should be chosen carefully
Need to monitor performance to determine the speed of fading
If student begins making errors, prompts may have been faded too quickly or with too few steps
May need to backtrack
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8. Guidelines for Effective Application of Fading
Choose final desired stimulus
Set an appropriate reinforcer
Choose the starting stimulus and fading steps
Put plan into effect
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