Nicolas has autistic disorder and he was mute. A therapist working with Nicolas initially gave him a piece of chocolate any time he made a sound with his lips. This slowly changed until Nicolas only received a piece of chocolate for saying complete words, and eventually only for saying complete sentences. In this example, Nicolas developed speech skills through the use of

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This is an example of shaping, where a behavior is gradually modified through reinforcement of incremental steps towards the desired behavior. The therapist started by reinforcing any sound that Nicolas made with a piece of chocolate and gradually increased the criteria until he was saying complete sentences. Classical conditioning involves learning through association, while modeling involves learning by observing others. Negative reinforcement involves removing an aversive stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior, which is not the case in this example.

Nicolas Has Autistic Disorder and He Was Mute