Peggy 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 it made behaviors that more 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

Jason Nguyen · Accepted Answer

Final Answer : A, Explanation :  Shaping is the process of reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior. In this scenario, Peggy reinforced the dog when it made behaviors that were similar to rolling over, gradually shaping the behavior until it rolled over completely. Positive reinforcement (B) and positive reinforcers (C) are types of rewards that increase the likelihood of a behavior being repeated, but shaping (A) is the specific technique being used in this scenario. Secondary reinforcers (D) are conditioned rewards that have been associated with primary reinforcers, such as food or praise.

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