Mrs.Martin,a third-grade teacher,is instructing cursive writing.At first,she reinforces even crude attempts to reproduce letters with an encouraging word; as time goes on,though,she reinforces only well-formed letters.By reinforcing progressively better attempts at writing letters,Mrs.Martin is using ___.
A) discrimination training
B) shaping
C) stimulus control training
D) behaviour modification

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Mrs. Martin is using shaping, which involves reinforcing behaviors that are closer and closer to the target behavior. In this case, the target behavior is well-formed letters, and Mrs. Martin reinforces progressively better attempts at writing them. This is an example of shaping. Discrimination training involves teaching an organism to respond differently to different stimuli, stimulus control training involves teaching an organism to respond to specific stimuli, and behavior modification is a general term for the application of principles of learning to change behavior.

MrsMartin,a Third-Grade Teacher,is Instructing Cursive Writing