Gabe is trying to get his dog,Trixie,to "sit up." He starts rewarding her first when she lies down.Then he rewards her when she is sitting on her backside.And finally he rewards her only when she sits up with her paws off the ground.Gabe has trained Trixie to "sit up" by using ____.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Shaping is the process of reinforcing successive approximations of the target behavior. In this case, Gabe rewarded Trixie first when she lied down, then when she was sitting on her backside, and finally only when she sat up with her paws off the ground. Each step is a successive approximation towards the target behavior of "sitting up." Therefore, Gabe trained Trixie to "sit up" by using shaping.

Gabe Is Trying to Get His Dog,Trixie,to "Sit Up