Author Question: Ma Yao wants to shape the behavior of play dead in her dog. She wants her dog, Skardu, to lay on the ... (Read 43 times)

nummyann · **on:** Jun 20, 2018

Ma Yao wants to shape the behavior of play dead in her dog. She wants her dog, Skardu, to lay on the floor, on his back, with is feet up in the air for at least 5 seconds when she gives this command. Her dog can already sit and lay down on command. However, he will only stay in these positions for a couple of seconds. (He's only 8 months old.) He can also roll over on command. In following the guidelines for effectively using shaping, she notes that she must first identify what the initial behavior that will receive reinforcement will be. What two considerations should she make in determining the first behavior to reinforce, what behavior would you reinforce first, and why?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

You are consulting with a care provider who is implementing shaping to teach a young adult to brush her own hair. The care provider asks you if you think he is changing his criteria for reinforcement too quickly, too slowly, or just right. You ask him to see his graph of the child's performance. He shows it to you. What will you look for in order to answer his question? How will the data influence your answer?

What will be an ideal response?

lucas dlamini · **Reply #1 on:** Jun 20, 2018

Answer to Question 1

It is important to consider the following: The behavior should already occur at some level, and the behavior should be a member of the targeted response class. A good behavior to start with in the shaping process might be laying down for a couple of seconds. It is in the dog's repertoire and it is part of the targeted response class.

Answer to Question 2

The consultant should look at the trends in the data. If steady progress toward the terminal behavior is observed, then the care giver is probably increasing criteria for reinforcement at the correct pace. If a large number of errors is occurring, then the pace is probably too fast. If there appears to be a long period of time where the previously-reinforced response occurs each time the response criteria are increased, then the pace of increasing criteria is probably too slow.