Kameko wanted to teach her dog how to roll over. She tried giving him instructions, but it didn't work. She tried waiting for him to roll over so she could reinforce the behavior, but she had to go to bed before the dog rolled. Finally, she began reinforcing the dog when he made behaviors that closely resembled rolling over. At last, using __________, she was able to teach the dog to do the trick.
A) shaping
B) positive reinforcement
C) positive reinforcers
D) secondary reinforcers

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Kameko was using shaping, which is the process of guiding an animal's behavior by rewarding any behavior that is closer and closer to the desired behavior. This is different from simply reinforcing the desired behavior because the animal may not know how to perform the behavior at first. Positive reinforcement (B) is also involved when Kameko rewards the dog for behavior that is closer to the desired behavior, but shaping better describes the overall process. Positive reinforcers (C) and secondary reinforcers (D) are not directly related to the process of shaping, but they may be used as rewards during shaping.

Kameko Wanted to Teach Her Dog How to Roll Over