Question

Darren is trying to get his young son to eat his peas. At first, Darren praises him whenever he moves his fork near the peas; after the child does this reliably, Darren praises him only if he actually puts a pea on his fork; then Darren's praise is only given when the child puts a pea on his fork and moves the fork toward his mouth. Darren carries on this way until the child eats his peas. Darren is using _____ to get his son to eat his peas.
A. the matching law
B. a token economy
C. shaping
D. chaining

Answer 1

Answer:

Darren is using C. shaping to get his son to eat his peas.

Explanation:

Shaping is a tactic used within Operant Conditioning, which is understood as the process for a subject to acquire a certain behavior through reinforcements.

Shaping occurs when the reinforcements occur during a successive pattern of the behavior, not only whenever a behavior is present.

We can see it clearly in this example; Darren slowly starts to praise (reinforce) his son's behaviors, gradually moving from moving his fork towards the peas until he moves the fork with the pea to its mouth.