Question

Five-year-old Trevor is emotionally disturbed and refuses to communicate with anyone. To get him to speak, his teacher initially gives him candy for any utterance, then only for a clearly spoken word, and finally only for a complete sentence. The teacher is using the method of:_______.
a. secondary reinforcement.
b. delayed reinforcement.
c. spontaneous recovery.
d. shaping.

Answer 1

Answer: d. shaping

Explanation:

Shaping is a process used in teaching in which a behavior or skill is gradually taught by differentially reinforcing successive approximations to the behavior that the teacher wants to create. conditioning paradigm used primarily in the experimental analysis of behavior. The method used is differential reinforcement of successive approximations. It was introduced by B. F. Skinner with pigeons and extended to dogs, dolphins, humans and other species.