Chapter 9Shaping

Chapter Outline

An Example of Shaping: Teaching a Child to TalkDefining ShapingApplications of Shaping

Getting Mrs. F to Walk AgainGetting Mrs. S to Increase Time Between Bathroom Visits

Research on ShapingHow to Use Shaping

1. Define the target behavior.2. Determine whether shaping is the most appropriate procedure.3. Identify the starting behavior.4. Choose the shaping steps.5. Choose the reinforcer to use in the shaping procedure.6. Differentially reinforce each successive approximation.7. Move through the shaping steps at the proper pace.

Shaping of Problem BehaviorsChapter SummaryKey TermsPractice TestApplicationsMisapplicationsChapter 9, Quiz 1Chapter 9, Quiz 2Chapter 9, Quiz 3

Ideas for Class Activities

1. Engage the class in an activity (the shaping game) in which one student will attempt to shape the behavior of another student. This activity is described in detail at the end of Chapter 9 in the third Application Exercise.

2. Identify a behavior that a dog or cat owner might find desirable (see the first Application Exercise, for example). Have the students describe how they would use shaping to get the cat or dog to engage in the behavior. The students should identify the starting behavior, the shaping steps, and the reinforcer they would sue in the shaping process.

Answers to Practice Test Questions

1. Shaping is defined as the differential reinforcement of successive approximations of a target behavior until the target behavior is exhibited by the individual.

2. Shaping is an appropriate procedure to use when the goal is to develop a target behavior that is the person is not currently exhibiting. You would not use shaping if the individual already engages in the behavior, at least occasionally or when other more efficient prompting procedures could be utilized.

3. The behavioral principles involved in shaping are reinforcement and extinction. To begin shaping, you reinforce a behavior that the person already exhibits that is an approximation of the target behavior. Subsequently, closer approximations to the target behavior are reinforced while previous approximations are not reinforced (extinction).

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4. A successive approximation is a behavior that is closer in form (than the previous approximation) to the target behavior.

5. The following example illustrates differential reinforcement of a successive approximation: Lara is trying to teach her daughter Kassidy to say “mommy.” Right now Kassidy can only make an “m” sound. Lara starts by providing attention (defined as smiling, kissing, and saying “Good job Kassidy”) as a reinforcer for making the “m” sound. After Kassidy began making the “m” sound frequently, Lara no longer provides attention for the behavior (extinction). Kassidy then begins making new, different noises. When Kassidy make the sound “ma,” (a closer approximation to “mommy”), Lara provides attention. This pattern of reinforcing closer approximations to the target behavior while not reinforcing previous approximations (extinction) continues until Kassidy exhibits the target behavior of saying “mommy.”

6. The following examples illustrate shaping: (1) A door knob rusts over time and you must put more and more effort into turning it to open the door, thereby shaping the intensity of the behavior. (2) You say “come” and your dog comes running. The dog ignores the command and only comes when you repeat the command. Then the dog ignores 2 commands and only comes after you issue 3 commands and raise your voice. Eventually, the dog comes only after yelling five times.

7. The following example illustrates how a problem behavior may be developed through shaping: Joey is a 25 year old male with severe intellectual disability who works in a sheltered workshop for individuals with developmental disabilities. At times Joey starts to sing loudly during working times, at which point staff immediately goes over to Joey and explains why he can’t sing during work. A psychologist was consulted to address Joey’s problem behavior. Upon identifying that the problem behavior was being maintained by staff attention, the psychologist recommended that the staff ignore Joey’s singing. When the staff ignored Joey’s singing an extinction burst occurred, in which Joey escalated to screaming loudly and running around the room. At that point the staff approached Joey and tried to calm him down by talking to him and patting him on the back (attention). As a result, the staff had shaped a more severe problem behavior.

8. The starting behavior or first approximation must be a behavior that the person already engages in, at least occasionally. In addition, the starting behavior must have some relevance to the target behavior.

9. It might be useful to use conditioned reinforcers when conducting a shaping procedure because conditioned reinforcers can typically be distributed quickly and easily, as with the conditioned reinforcer of clicking in the dolphin example. In addition, using a conditioned reinforcer can avoid satiation on an unconditioned reinforcer, which for the dolphins was fish.

10. In language development in young children, the shaping process starts when the parents reinforce babbling. The random word sounds in babbling are approximations to actual words. Each time the child makes a sound that is a closer approximation to a word, the child gets more attention (reinforcement) from the parent and the child gets less attention for the previous approximation. Discrimination training occurs when the parents reinforce specific words in the presence of specific SDs. For example saying “ball” in the presence of a ball.

11. Shaping can be used to establish a new form (new topography) of a behavior or it may be used to produce a different frequency, duration, latency, or intensity of an already existing behavior. Shaping a new dimension of a behavior occurs when shaping is used to get a person to gradually engage in more and more exercise until he reaches 40 minutes per day when he is currently exercising only 10 minutes a day.

12. Novel behaviors typically begin to occur as part of an extinction burst. A novel behavior that is a closer approximation to the target behavior is reinforced. As a result, the behavior that is a closer approximation will be exhibited more frequently, the previous behavior less frequently. For example, whenever 6 year old Joshua cries, his babysitter, Linda, immediately provides attention (goes over to him and asks him what’s wrong, hugs him, etc.) One day Linda decided that Joshua was too old for such behavior, and decided to ignore his crying. When she did so, Joshua threw a tantrum (dropped to the floor and started screaming). At that point Linda provided attention to Joshua (reinforcer), thereby shaping a more problematic behavior, tantrumming.

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Answers to Applications

1. The starting behavior is to walk within 5 feet of the back door. This behavior is chosen because Felix frequently walks by the back door. The target behavior is to bump the door knob with his nose. The reinforcer will be a clicking sound made by a hand-held clicker. Prior to shaping, the clicking sound will be paired with food and with letting Felix out of the back door numerous times over a few days. The successive approximations will be: (1) walking within 5 feet of the door; (2) facing the door within 5 feet of the door; (3) facing the door within 2 feet of the door; (4) facing the door within 1 foot of the door; (5) touching the door with his nose; (6) touching the door knob with his nose; (7) bumping the doorknob with his nose. You differentially reinforce the starting behavior by clicking the clicker whenever Felix walks within 5 feet of the door. Once he frequently walks within 5 feet of the door, you no longer reinforce this behavior and, instead, reinforce facing the door within 5 feet. Once he frequently faces the door within 5 feet, you stop reinforcing this behavior and start reinforcing the behavior of facing the door 2 feet away. As soon as Felix frequently faces the door within 2 feet, you stop reinforcing this behavior and start clicking the clicker when he faces the door within 1 foot of the door. You continue this process until he touches the door, touches the knob, and then bumps the knob. If you have established the clicking sound as a conditioned reinforcer in advance, you should be able to shape the target behavior in one or two brief (15 minute) sessions. As soon as Felix bumps the doorknob, click the clicker and immediately let him outside. From then on, whenever he bumps the doorknob, let him outside as the natural reinforcer.

2. Students should get to class a few minutes early and discuss their strategy. The target behavior is standing in the right-hand front corner of the classroom while lecturing. The starting behavior is standing just to the right side of the podium. It is 20 feet from the podium to the right corner. The students decide on 10 shaping steps and put 10 marks on the top of the chalkboard, 2 feet apart, from the podium to the right corner. When the professor stands on the right side of the podium, the students look at the professor, smile, and nod their heads. If the professor stands on the left side, the students do not look at the professor or smile. After the professor stands to the right of the podium most of the time, the students move to the next shaping step. Now they look at the professor and smile only when he or she is past the first mark, two feet to the right of the podium. They do not look at the professor if he or she is to the left of this mark. After the professor stands to the right of the two foot mark reliably, the students move to the next step and pay attention to the professor only when he or she is to the right of the second mark, four feet to the right of the podium. The students continue to use differential reinforcement of successive approximations until the professor teaches from the right corner of the room. To make this work, it is important for all students to be involved, so that all the students are using their attention to the professor as the reinforcer in the differential reinforcement of each approximation.

Answers to Misapplications

1. The problem with this application of shaping is that Jody could benefit from more efficient training procedures. Although driving is a novel behavior for Jody, she could learn more quickly and easily with procedures such as instructions and modeling. If you can get a person to exhibit a target behavior without building up to it through successive approximations, shaping is not necessary. Most individuals can learn simple and complex skills through instructions, modeling, or other teaching procedures. Shaping would be appropriate only for individuals who could not learn from these other teaching strategies. In addition, shaping is typically used for behaviors that are less complex than driving a car.

2. Shaping is not an appropriate procedure in this case because the teacher is not trying to develop a new behavior in Jake. She is trying to get Jake to complete his math worksheet problems. Because he already completes his worksheet sometimes, Mrs. Markle knows that Jake is capable of doing the problems. It would be more appropriate to use a procedure such as differential reinforcement. The teacher would first identify what the reinforcer is for Jake's undesirable behavior; that is, turning in worksheets that are not completed. She would then eliminate the reinforcer for this behavior. In addition, she would provide a reinforcer for the desirable behavior, that is, turning in a completed worksheet. As a result, Jake should turn in completed worksheets more often.

3. The use of shaping requires reinforcement of successive approximations to the target behavior. The reinforcer should be delivered immediately after the person exhibits the successive approximations. The timing of the reinforcer must be precise, so that the correct behavior is reinforced. The problem with this example is that the

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reinforcer is applied much too late. An ice cream cone at the end of the week could not possibly reinforce the successive approximations to the target behavior of appropriate social skills. To use shaping effectively, Dr. Williams would deliver the reinforcer numerous times in each training session, immediately after Jenny approximated the target behavior. A conditioned reinforcer such as praise would be most useful. In each role-play, as Jenny exhibited closer approximations to the target behavior, Dr. Williams would provide praise as a reinforcer.

Answers to Quizzes

Quiz 11. successive approximations 2. starting behavior 3. reinforcement and extinction 4. a hand held clicker or a whistle 5. conditioned 6. novel or new topography 7. previously exhibited 8. dimension 9. instructions, modeling, or other prompts 10. no, because the behavior already occurs occasionally, you can use differential reinforcement

Quiz 21. differential reinforcement 2. successive approximations 3. babbling, word sounds, words 4. immediately 5. satiation 6. b 7. c 8. a 9. is not 10. differential reinforcement

Quiz 31. shaping 2. successive approximation 3. target behavior 4. moving to the half of the chamber where the lever is located 5. conditioned 6. generate a novel behavior 7. reinstate a previously exhibited behavior 8. change some dimension of an existing behavior 9. telling the person what to do 10. showing the person what to do

Test Questions

1. Which of the following strategies is used when a target behavior is not occurring at all?a) differential reinforcementb) respondent conditioningc) punishmentd) shaping

ANS: D

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2. In _______________ successive approximations of the target behavior are differentially reinforced until the individual engages in the target behavior.

a) conditioning b) prompting c) shapingd) positive reinforcement

ANS: C

3. In shaping:a) the target behavior is reinforced more and more over timeb) successive approximations of the target behavior are reinforcedc) the target behavior is reinforced when it occurs closer and closer to the discriminative stimulusd) all of these

ANS: B

4. Which of the following behavioral principles is(are) involved in shaping?a) extinctionb) punishmentc) reinforcement d) A and C

ANS: D

5. In shaping, the steps that are used on the way to developing the target behavior are referred to as:a) tasksb) behavior gradientsc) successive approximationsd) intervals

ANS: C

6. The starting behavior that is used in shaping is:a) a behavior that is already occurringb) an approximation of the target behaviorc) A and Bd) none of the above

ANS: C

7. When reinforcement for each approximation of the target behavior is eliminated ____________ occurs, and a ____________ behavior is then reinforced.

a) an extinction burst ; novelb) spontaneous recovery ; desirablec) punishment ; desirabled) conditioning ; prior

ANS: A

8. When using shaping, each step should be ____________ to the target behavior.a) identical b) a closer approximation c) irrelevant d) B and C

ANS: B

9. Conditioned reinforcers are useful when using shaping because they:a) enable rapid delivery of reinforcers b) are more powerful than unconditioned reinforcers c) prevent satiation from occurring

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d) A and C

ANS: D

10. ______________ reinforcers are used during shaping because they enable rapid delivery of the reinforcer and prevent satiation from occurring.

a) unconditionedb) tangiblec) conditionedd) edible

ANS: C

11. In which of the following instances can shaping be used?a) to reinstate a previous behaviorb) to develop a novel behaviorc) to change a dimension of an existing behaviord) all of these

ANS: D

12. Jerry is a professional football player who injured his knee while running during a game. Jerry has had surgery and his knee is fully healed, but he is afraid to put pressure on it because he doesn’t want to re-injure it. The trainer implements a plan in which he first differentially reinforces standing, then walking, then jogging, and finally running at full speed. This is an example of using shaping to:

a) reinstate a previous behaviorb) change a dimension of an existing behaviorc) generate a novel behaviord) increase an existing behavior

ANS: A

13. Sara wants to teach her cat Fluffy to use his paw to turn on the television. Sara differentially reinforces Fluffy’s behavior of being within one foot of the television, being within one foot and facing the television, when Fluffy touches the television with his paw, when he touches the on button with his paw, and finally when Fluffy hits the on button with his paw. This is an example of using shaping to:

a) change a dimension of an existing behaviorb) generate a novel behaviorc) increase an existing behaviord) reinstate a previous behavior

ANS: B

14. A teacher uses shaping to increase the loudness of a withdrawn child’s voice. This would be an example of using shaping to:

a) reinstate a previous behavior b) change a dimension of an existing behavior c) generate a new topography of behaviord) create a new behavior

ANS: B

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15. In which of the following situations would it be appropriate to use shaping?a) the target behavior is already occurringb) instruction or demonstration would be effectivec) acquisition of a novel behavior is the goald) A and B

ANS: C

16. Shaping would NOT be an appropriate procedure to use when a) instructions would be successfulb) the target behavior is not occurringc) the person is nonverbald) A and C

ANS: A

17. What is the first thing that should be done before implementing shaping?a) choose the shaping stepsb) identify the starting behaviorc) define the target behaviord) choose the reinforcer

ANS: C

18. Which of the following is NOT a guideline involved in shaping?a) identifying the starting behaviorb) choosing the shaping stepsc) choosing the reinforcerd) choosing the unconditioned stimulus

ANS: D

19. Differential reinforcement of each successive approximation involves:a) punishing the previous approximationb) extinguishing the previous approximationc) reinforcing the new approximationd) B and C

ANS: D

20. Which of the following is true regarding shaping steps?a) each step should be a closer approximation to the target behaviorb) a moderate behavior change between steps is bestc) mastering one step facilitates behavior in the next stepd) all of these

ANS: D

21. Which of the following behaviors cannot be developed through shaping?a) self-injurious behaviorsb) arguments between spousesc) animal tricksd) startle response to loud noise

ANS: D

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22. When Tommy’s Mom asks him to stop playing video games he ignores her. When she asks him a second, third, and fourth time in a louder voice Tommy continues to ignore her. By the fifth time, Tommy’s Mom screams at him to stop playing video games, and he finally stops. Eventually, Tommy’s Mom has to yell at him ten times before he quits playing video games. In this example, whose behavior has been shaped?

a) Tommy’sb) Mom’sc) Tommy’s and Mom’sd) neither Tommy’s nor Mom’s

ANS: C

23. Which of the following indicates it is time to move from one shaping step to the next?a) the individual is successfully engaging in the behaviorb) the individual is having difficulty with the approximationc) the individual asks to move to the next step

ANS: A

24. Which of the following is(are) involved in the process of learning language?a) reinforcementb) successive approximations c) extinctiond) all of these

ANS: D

25. In shaping language in a young child, what is typically the starting behavior?a) wordsb) nouns and verbsc) babblingd) sentences

ANS: C

26. Extinction is used in shaping toa) reduce interfering behaviorb) stop the occurrence of a previous approximationc) promote the target behaviord) stop the person from engaging in novel behavior

ANS: B

27. During shaping what is responsible for the emergence of novel behaviors?a) respondent conditioningb) extinction burstc) instructionsd) successive approximations

ANS: B

28. Using shaping to get a person to increase the strength of her grip would be an example of shaping a(n):a) novel behaviorb) a new dimension of an existing behaviorc) undesirable behaviord) respondent behavior

ANS: B

29. The extinction burst is valuable in shaping becausea) it leads to novel behaviors that may be an approximation to the target behaviorb) it is an indication that the shaping steps are too largec) it is an indication that the shaping steps are too small

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d) it is an indication that the person is trying to learn

ANS: A

30. Which of the following behavior is least likely to be developed through shaping?a) driving a carb) a child showing off to his friendsc) a child engaging in long and loud tantrum behaviord) a spouse arguing loudly

ANS: A

1. With shaping you can get a new behavior to start so that you can keep it going with ______________.

ANS: differential reinforcement

2. Shaping is a behavioral procedure in which ______________ of a target behavior are ______________ until the person eventually engages in the target behavior.

ANS: successive approximations; differentially reinforced

3. A behavior that a person already exhibits that is an approximation to the target behavior is called ____________.

ANS: starting behavior

4. Shaping can be used to develop a behavior, reinstate a(n) ______________ behavior or change some dimension of a(n) ______________ behavior.

ANS: previous; existing

5. ______________ is the starting behavior in the process of using shaping to develop language in a young child.

ANS: Babbling

6. ______________ and _______________ are the two behavioral principles involved in shaping.

ANS: Reinforcement, extinction

7 _______________ (conditioned / unconditioned) reinforcers are typically used in shaping procedures.

ANS: Conditioned

8. Shaping ________ (is / is not) the appropriate procedure to use if you want to strengthen an existing behavior.

ANS: is not

9. _________________________, or shaping steps, are behaviors that are closer and closer to the target behavior.

ANS: successive approximations

10. What dimension of the target behavior would you be shaping if you used shaping to get a person to talk louder _________________________?

ANS: intensity

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1. T F Shaping is a procedure that can help a person engage in a new behavior.

ANS: T

2. T F Shaping involves reinforcement of a closer approximation and extinction of a previous approximation of a target behavior.

ANS: T

3. T F When using shaping, timing is not very important.

ANS: F

4. T F If the individual already engages in the target behavior at least occasionally, shaping is the best procedure to use.

ANS: F

5. T F People are often well aware of how shaping can develop problem behaviors.

ANS: F

6. T F An extinction burst is valuable in shaping because it may lead to the next approximation to the target behavior.

ANS: T

7. T F Shaping would not be used if a person could benefit from instructions or modeling.

ANS: T

8. T F Reinforcement and punishment are the two principles involved in shaping.

ANS: F

9. T F Reinforcement and extinction are the two principles involved in shaping.

ANS: T

10. T F Intermittent reinforcement is used during shaping.

ANS: F

1. A young child has just learned to say “ball” as a result of shaping. How do you bring the child’s behavior of saying “ball” under stimulus control of a ball?

ANS: By providing a reinforcer when the child says “ball” only when a ball is present and not providing a reinforcer when the child says “ball” when a ball is not present.

2. Why is it important to move from reinforcing one approximation to the next approximation at a proper pace?

ANS: Reinforcing one approximation too many times make it difficult to move to the next step; the individual may continue to engage in the previous approximation. At the same time, if the person does not master one approximation, it may be impossible or at least difficult to progress to the next step.

3. Describe how shaping might be used to develop a problem behavior. Provide an example.

ANS: Joey is a 25-year-old make with severe mental retardation who works in a sheltered workshop for individuals with developmental disabilities. At times Joey starts to sing loudly during working times, at which point staff immediately go over to Joey and explain why he can’t sing during work. A psychologist was consulted to address Joey’s problem behavior. Upon identifying that the problem behavior was being maintained by staff attention, the psychologist recommended that the staff ignore Joey’s singing. When the staff ignored Joey’s singing, an extinction burst occurred in which Joey escalated to screaming loudly and running around the room. At that point staff approached Joey and tried to calm him down by talking to him and patting him on the back (attention). As a result, the staff has shaped a more severe problem behavior.

4. Provide an example of how shaping could be used to change a dimension of an existing behavior.

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ANS: Shaping a new dimension of a behavior occurs when shaping is used to get a person to gradually engage in more and more exercise until he reaches 40 minutes per day when he is currently exercising only 10 minutes a day.

5. Define shaping. Provide an example.

ANS: Shaping is defined as the differential reinforcement of successive approximations of a target behavior until the target behavior is exhibited by the individual. A doorknob rusts over time and you must put more and more effort into turning it to open the door, thereby shaping the intensity of the behavior.

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