A ski instructor is teaching a class of beginning skiers how to do a snowplow turn. She first teaches her students to stand with the fronts of their skis together and the backs of their skis far apart. She then has her students bend their knees slightly and lean forward in this "snowplow" position. After the students can do these two things successfully, the instructor has them add more behaviors to the sequence: gliding across the side of a gentle slope in a snowplow, putting their body weight on the downhill ski, gradually turning downhill, and so on. The instructor praises her students each time they successfully add a new movement to the sequence. In behaviorist terminology, the procedure that the ski instructor is using can best be described as:
A) the Premack principle
B) chaining
C) a differential schedule of reinforcement
D) higher-level conditioning

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The procedure being used is chaining, which involves breaking down a complex behavior into smaller, more manageable parts and teaching them sequentially. The behavior is learned through the chaining together of each individual response into a larger sequence of behaviors. The ski instructor is teaching the students each behavior in a step-by-step manner, praising successful completion of each step before moving on to the next one.

A Ski Instructor Is Teaching a Class of Beginning Skiers