A circus trainer wants to train a cat to pull a rope as part of an animal act. The probability that the cat will just pull a rope is very low. What technique would be the best choice to use to help the cat learn to emit the desired response?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Shaping involves reinforcing successive approximations to a desired behavior. With the low probability of the cat pulling a rope initially, shaping can be effective in gradually shaping the behavior by reinforcing any behavior that gets closer to pulling the rope until the desired behavior is achieved. This process will improve the likelihood of the cat pulling the rope. The other options (stimulus generalization, extinction, and stimulus discrimination) may not be as effective in teaching the specific behavior of pulling a rope to the cat.

A Circus Trainer Wants to Train a Cat to Pull