Some bears kept in captivity allow veterinarians to routinely give them total body checkups. These bears open their mouths for teeth cleaning and present their paws for nail clipping. Your friend wonders how anyone could ever get these dangerous animals to be so cooperative without anesthesia. From your study of psychology, you quickly surmise that the bears have undergone an extensive ________ program.
A) fear extinction
B) discrimination
C) secondary reinforcement
D) shaping

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The bears' behavior of allowing veterinarians to perform checkups and grooming indicates that they have undergone training through a process called shaping. Shaping involves reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior until the animal can perform the full behavior. The bears were likely gradually trained to tolerate touch, handling, and other procedures using positive reinforcement and shaping techniques. Fear extinction, discrimination, and secondary reinforcement may have played a role in the training process, but shaping is the most direct and applicable term to describe the training program used for these bears.

Some Bears Kept in Captivity Allow Veterinarians to Routinely Give