Shaping of Behavior

Definition

Shaping of behavior is a behavior modification technique that rewards successive approximations to a desired target behavior. For individuals with autism, shaping can be used to teach new behaviors. The procedure involves defining what the target behavior should be and then choosing which initial response to reinforce. The initial response to reward should be something that the individual exhibits that is related to the target behavior. Approximations to the desired behavior are differentially reinforced as the shaping procedure is implemented. Each successive approximation that is closer to the target behavior is reinforced, while reinforcement is withheld for earlier approximations in order to continue moving toward the target behavior. For example, shaping was initially used to teach children with autism expressive words. Rather than only providing a reward when a desired word was produced, differential speech attempts that become closer and closer to the target word were...