Chapter 22 - Shaping

Question 1

clicker training

Answer 1

A term popularized by Pryor (1999) for shaping behavior using unconditioned reinforcement in the form of an auditory stimulus. A handheld device produces a click sound when pressed. The trainer pairs other forms of reinforcement (e.g. edible treats) with the click sound so that the sound becomes a conditioned reinforcer.

Question 2

differential reinforcement

Answer 2

Reinforcing only those responses within a response class that meet a specific criterion along some dimension(s) (i.e., frequency, topography, duration, latency, or magnitude) and placing all other responses in the class on extinction.

Question 3

response differentiation

Answer 3

A behavior change produced by differential reinforcement: reinforced members of the current response class occur with greater frequency, and unreinforced members occur less frequently (undergo extinction); the overall result is the emergence of a new response class.

Question 4

shaping

Answer 4

Using differential reinforcement to produce a series of gradually changing response classes; each response class is a successive approximation toward a terminal behavior. Members of an existing response class are selected for differential reinforcement because they more closely resemble the terminal behavior.

Question 5

successive approximations

Answer 5

The sequence of new response classes that emerge during the shaping process as the result of differential reinforcement; each successive response class is closer in form to the terminal behavior that the response class it replaces.