Chapter 9 Flashcards
Identify the three basic stages in any shaping procedure as presented at the beginning of this chapter. Describe them with an example (either Frank’s case or an example of your own).
Shaping consists of three stages, including
(a) specification of the target behavior, such as Frank jogging a quarter mile each day;
(b) identification of a starting behavior, such as Frank walking around his house once; and
(c) reinforcing the starting behavior and closer and closer approximations to the target behavior until the target behavior occurs, such as Frank having a beer for walking around his house once, and then twice, and then more and more until he walked a quarter mile to earn the beer.
Define shaping.
Shaping can be defined as the development of a new operant behavior by the reinforcement of successive approximations of that behavior and the extinction of earlier approximations of that behavior until the new behavior occurs.
What is another name for shaping?
Shaping is sometimes referred to as the method of successive approximations.
*Explain how shaping involves successive applications of the principles of positive reinforcement and operant extinction.
Approximation 1 is reinforced for a number of trials until approximation 2 occurs; then approximation 1 is extinguished and approximation 2 is reinforced until approximation 3 occurs, and so on.
*Why bother with shaping? Why not just learn about the use of straightforward positive reinforcement to increase a behavior?
Positive reinforcement can be used to increase behavior that already occurs once in a while.
Shaping is necessary to develop a behavior that is not yet occurring.
In terms of the three stages in a shaping procedure, describe how parents might shape their child to say a particular word.
First, the child passes through a stage in which very remote approximations of words in the parents’ native language are reinforced. Then the child enters a stage in which “baby talk” is reinforced. Finally, the parents and others require the child to pronounce words in accordance with the practices of the verbal community before reinforcement is given. For example, a child who says “wa-wa” at an early stage is given a glass of water, and if she is thirsty, this action reinforces the response. At a later stage, “watah” rather than wa-wa is reinforced with water. Finally, the child must say “water” before water reinforcement will be given.
List five dimensions of behavior that can be shaped. Give two examples of each.
- Topography is the spatial configuration or form of a particular response (i.e., the specific movements involved). Printing a word and writing the same word are examples of the same response made with two different topographies. Topography shaping occurs, for example, when teaching a child to switch from a printing response to a writing response, teaching a child to say, “Mommy” instead of “Mama,” learning to ice skate with longer and longer strides rather than short choppy steps, and learning the proper finger movements for eating with chopsticks.
- We sometimes refer to the frequency or duration of a particular behavior as the amount of that behavior. The frequency of a behavior is the number of instances that occur in a given period of time. Examples of frequency shaping include increasing the number of steps (the distance) that Frank walked in his exercise program and increasing the number of repetitions that a golfer practices a particular golf shot. The frequency of a response may also be reduced by shaping as in a behavior modification program in which a patient with multiple sclerosis learned through shaping to gradually increase the time between and thus decrease the frequency of bathroom visits
- The duration of a response is the length of time that it lasts. Examples of duration shaping include lengthening the time spent studying before taking a break and gradually adjusting the duration of stirring pancake batter until it achieves just the right consistency. Athens, Vollmer, and St. Peter Pipkin (2007) used duration shaping to increase aca- demic behavior of students with learning disabilities.
- Latency is the time between the occurrence of a stimulus and the response evoked by that stimulus. A common term for latency is reaction time. On the popular TV quiz show Jeopardy! the time from the presentation of the host’s verbal stimulus until a contestant presses a button is the contestant’s latency of responding to that particular stimulus. In a race, the time between firing the starter’s pistol and the runner leaving the blocks is the latency of the runner’s response to the firing of the starting pistol. Latency shaping might enable the runner to react more quickly or the Jeopardy! contestant to press the button faster.
- The intensity or force of a response refers to the physical effect the response has or potentially has on the environment. For an example of shaping force, consider a farm boy whose job is to pump water out of a well with an old-fashioned hand pump. When the pump was first installed, it was freshly oiled, and when the boy applied a certain amount of force to the handle, it moved up and down very easily and water flowed. Suppose, however, that with lack of regular oiling, the pump has gradually acquired a little rust. Each day the boy applies approximately the amount of force he applied on the first day. When applying that force is no longer reinforced by the flow of water because the addition of rust has made the pump handle more difficult to move, the boy will likely apply a little more force and find that it pays off. Over several months, the boy’s behavior is gradually shaped so that he presses very hard on the first trial, a terminal behavior quite different from the initial behavior. Other examples of intensity shaping include learning to shake hands with a firmer grip and learning to apply the right amount of force when scratching to relieve an itch without damaging one’s skin. An example of intensity shaping in a behavior modification program involved teaching a socially withdrawn girl whose speech was barely audible to speak louder and louder until she was speaking at normal voice volume (Jack- son & Wallace, 1974). See Table 9.1 for a summary of the dimensions of behavior.
Describe a behavior of yours that was shaped by consequences in the natural environment and state several of the initial approximations.
“A behaviour of mine that was shaped by consequences in the natural environment was learning to walk when I was a baby. Several of the initial approximations were first figuring out how to roll over, then figuring out how to crawl, then trying to stand, and next trying to walk by holding on to static objects (furniture, people). The final result of these initial approximations would be walking with no help and without falling. Consequences would be losing balance and falling due to gravity in the natural environment.”
What is meant by the term final target behavior in a shaping program? Give an example.
The first stage in shaping is to identify clearly the final target behavior. In Frank’s case, the final target behavior was jogging a quarter of a mile each day.
A precise statement of the final target behavior increases the chances for consistent reinforcement of successive approximations of that behavior. The final target behavior should be stated in such a way that all of the relevant characteristics of the behavior—its topography, duration, frequency, latency, and intensity—are identified. In addition, the conditions under which the behavior is or is not to occur should be stated, and any other guidelines that appear to be necessary for consistency should be provided.
What is meant by the term starting behavior in a shaping program? Give an example.
Because the final target behavior does not occur initially and because it is necessary to reinforce some behavior that approximates it, you must identify a starting behavior. This should be a behavior that occurs often enough to be rein- forced within the session time, and it should approximate the final target behavior. For example, Frank’s behavior of walking around the house once is something that he did periodically. This was the closest approximation that he regularly made with respect to the goal of jogging a quarter of a mile.
*How do you know you have enough successive approximations or shaping steps of the right size?
You don’t. You simply give it your best guess and then try out the program. When choosing the approximations, the teacher might imagine what steps she herself would go through. Also, it is sometimes helpful to observe students who can already emit the terminal behavior and to ask them to emit the initial and subsequent approximations.
Why is it necessary to avoid under-reinforcement at any shaping step?
Reinforce an approximation at least several times before proceeding to the next step. In other words, avoid under-reinforcement of a shaping step. Trying to go to a new step before the previous approximation has been well established can result in losing the previous approximation through extinction without achieving the new approximation.
Why is it necessary to avoid reinforcing too many times at any shaping step?
Avoid reinforcing too many times at any shaping step. Point a cautions against going too fast. It is also important not to progress too slowly. If one approximation is reinforced for so long that it becomes extremely strong, new approximations are less likely to appear.
Give an example of the unaware-misapplication pitfall in which shaping might be accidentally applied to develop an undesirable behavior. Describe some of the shaping steps in your example.
Suppose a small child receives very little social attention from family members when he performs appropriate behavior. Perhaps one day the child accidentally falls and strikes his head lightly against a hard floor. Even if the child is not injured seriously, a parent may come running quickly and make a big fuss over the incident. Because of this reinforcement and because anything else the child does that is appropriate seldom evokes attention, he is likely to repeat the response of striking his head lightly against the floor. The first few times this occurs, the parent may continue to reinforce the response. Eventually, however, seeing that the child is not really hurting himself, the parent may stop reinforcing it. Because the behavior has now been placed on operant extinction, the intensity of the behavior may increase (see Chapter 8). That is, the child may begin to hit his head more forcefully, and the slightly louder thud will cause the parent to come running again. If this shaping process continues, the child will eventually hit his head with sufficient force to cause physical injury. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to use operant extinction to eliminate such violently self-destructive behavior. It would have been best never to let the behavior develop to the point at which the child’s parents were forced to continue reinforcing it and increasing its strength.
Give an example of the pitfall in which the failure to apply shaping might have an undesirable result.
Some parents, for example, may not be responsive enough to their child’s babbling behavior. Perhaps they expect too much at the beginning and do not reinforce extremely remote approximations of normal speech. Some parents, for example, seem to expect their tiny infant to say “Father!” right off the bat and are not impressed when the child says “da-da.” e opposite type of problem also exists. Instead of not giving enough reinforcement for babbling, some parents may over-reinforce babbling. This could result in a child whose speech consists entirely of baby talk at an age when most children have mastered their culture’s speech patterns.
