Allison is trying to teach her cat to use the toilet rather than the litter box to go to the bathroom.She initially moves the litter box into the bathroom and gives her cat a treat when she uses it.Then she moves the litter box on top of the toilet and gives her cat a treat when she uses it.Next,she uses a toilet insert that has litter in it but requires her cat to balance on the toilet seat to go to the bathroom.When her cat successfully does this,Allison gives her a treat.Allison is using which of the following processes of operant conditioning?
A)Fading
B)Shaping
C)Chaining
D)Scalloping

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Allison is using shaping, which involves reinforcing successive approximations towards the desired behavior. She is gradually moving her cat from using the litter box to using the toilet, rewarding each step towards the ultimate goal of the cat balancing on the toilet seat to go to the bathroom. Fading involves gradually removing prompts or cues that help an animal complete a behavior, chaining involves linking a sequence of behaviors together, and scalloping refers to a pattern of responding where the behavior increases slowly at first, then rapidly, then levels off as it approaches the reward.

Allison Is Trying to Teach Her Cat to Use the Toilet