Laura commands her new puppy to "Shake!" lifts his paw, and then reinforces him. After several repetitions, she merely touches the dogs paw and says "Shake!" and then reinforces the dog. Later on, she merely extends her hand near the dog's paw and says "Shake!" The dog now raises his paw to shake. In training her dog Laura has used the technique called
A) shaping.
B) stimulus generalization.
C) extinction.
D) stimulus discrimination.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Laura has used the technique of shaping, which involves reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior. Initially, she reinforced the dog for lifting its paw when she commanded "Shake!" and gradually shaped the behavior until the dog could raise its paw in response to just a hand signal and command. Stimulus generalization, extinction, and stimulus discrimination were not explicitly used in this training scenario.

Laura Commands Her New Puppy to "Shake!" Lifts His Paw