Shaping is a type of operant conditioning that involves reinforcing increasingly closer approximations of a desired behavior. It is a process that can be used to teach new behaviors or to improve existing ones.
Description
Shaping is a process that involves reinforcing behaviors that are increasingly closer to a desired outcome. The desired outcome is called the terminal behavior. The process starts with reinforcing behaviors that are very similar to the terminal behavior, even if they are not exactly the same. As the learner gets closer to the terminal behavior, the criteria for reinforcement are gradually changed so that only behaviors that are more and more similar to the terminal behavior are reinforced. Eventually, the learner will be able to perform the terminal behavior consistently and will be reinforced for doing so.
This is a behavioral term that refers to gradually molding or training an organism to perform a specific response (behavior) by reinforcing any responses that are similar to the desired response. For example, a researcher can use shaping to train a rat to press a lever during an experiment (since rats are not born with the instinct to press a lever in a cage during an experiment). To start, the researcher may reward the rat when it makes any movement at all in the direction of the lever. Then, the rat has to actually take a step toward the lever to get rewarded. Then, it has to go over to the lever to get rewarded (remember, it will not receive any reward for doing the earlier behaviors now…it must make a more advanced move by going over to the lever), and so on until only pressing the lever will produce reward. The rat’s behavior was “shaped” to get it to press the lever.
Definition
Shaping is a type of operant conditioning that involves reinforcing increasingly closer approximations of a desired behavior. It is a process that can be used to teach new behaviors or to improve existing ones.
History
Shaping was first developed by B.F. Skinner in the 1930s. Skinner was interested in studying how learning could be used to change behavior. He found that shaping was an effective way to teach animals new behaviors.
Characteristics
Shaping is a powerful tool that can be used to teach a wide variety of behaviors. It is especially useful for teaching behaviors that are difficult to learn through other means, such as complex motor skills or social behaviors. Shaping is also a relatively efficient way to learn new behaviors.
Sources
- Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2007). Applied behavior analysis (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
- Skinner, B. F. (1938). The behavior of organisms. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
- Sulzer-Azaroff, B., & Mayer, G. R. (1991). Behavior analysis for lasting change. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.