Sherry wants her dog to "heel" on command.At first she gives the dog a treat for coming to her when she speaks the command,"Heel!" Then she only rewards the dog when it stands at her side when she gives the command and,finally,rewards the dog only when it is at her side and facing front.Sherry is using __________.
A)higher-order conditioning.
B)biological readiness.
C)shaping.
D)generalization.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Sherry is using shaping, which involves reinforcing behaviors that are increasingly similar to the desired behavior. By gradually increasing the criteria for reward, Sherry is shaping the dog's behavior to heel on command. Higher-order conditioning involves using a previously conditioned stimulus as the unconditioned stimulus in a new conditioning process, biological readiness refers to the idea that certain organisms are biologically predisposed to learn certain associations, and generalization refers to the tendency to respond in a similar way to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus, none of which are occurring in this scenario.

Sherry Wants Her Dog to "Heel" on Command