ch. 9: getting a new behaviour to occur with shaping

purpose of shaping

used to establish a behaviour that the individual has never performed

how does shaping work

to develop a new operant behaviour by the reinforcement of successive approximations of that behaviour, and the extinction of earlier approximations of that behaviour until a new behaviour occurs

successive approximations

reinforcing behaviour in succession until target behaviour is reached

• awarding new behaviour, no longer rewarding earlier behaviour

basic steps in shaping procedure

1. specify the final target behaviour

2. identify a response that could be used as a starting behaviour

3. reinforce the starting behaviour, then reinforce closer and closer approximations until arriving at target behaviour

five dimensions of shaping behaviour

1. topography

2. frequency

3. duration

4. latency

5. intensity

topography

physical movements involved in the behaviour

frequency

number of instances of behaviour in a given time

duration

continuous amount of time that the behaviour lasts

latency

time between the controlling stimulus and the behaviour

intensity

amount of energy expended on the behaviour

factors that influence the effectiveness of shaping

1. specifying the final target behaviour

2. choosing the starting behaviour

3. choosing the shaping steps

4. the pace of movement through the shaping steps

specifying the final target behaviour

specify all relevant characteristics of the behaviour

• identify the 5 dimensions of shaping behaviour, conditions of behaviour and other guidelines

choosing the starting behaviour

should be a behaviour that occurs often enough to be reinforced within the session time and it should approximate the final behaviour

choosing the shaping steps

• no specific guidelines

• use step-by-step successive approximations

the pace of movement through the shaping steps

• reinforce an approximation several times before moving to next step

• avoid reinforcing too many times at any shaping step

• if behaviour is lost from moving too quick, return to earlier approximation

• there’s room for failure!!!

unaware-misapplication pitfall

when those who are not aware of shaping might unknowingly apply it to develop undesirable behaviour

failure-to-apply pitfall

failure to apply shaping to develop desirable behaviour

inaccurate-explanation-of-behaviour pitfall

may explain child as delayed when really they were not exposed to appropriate shaping