Shaping is a widely used technique for teaching complex behaviors or chains of behaviors. B.F. Skinner famously applied shaping to train pigeons to perform unusual and entertaining actions, such as turning in circles, walking in figure eights, and playing ping pong. Due to its effectiveness, shaping remains a common method employed by animal trainers today.

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In operant conditioning, shaping is an approach in which successive approximations of a target behavior are rewarded, rather than rewarding only the final target behavior itself.

Shaping

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

Shaping is necessary because an organism is highly unlikely to spontaneously display complex behaviors. Since reinforcement requires the behavior to be displayed first, shaping facilitates this by breaking the behavior down into small, achievable steps.

Need for Shaping

The shaping process involves breaking down a target behavior into multiple small and achievable steps, allowing for the systematic reinforcement of successive approximations.

Shaping Process

The process of shaping behavior involves sequentially reinforcing successive approximations of a desired target behavior. The steps are to first reinforce any response that resembles the desired behavior. Then, reinforcement is shifted to a response that more closely resembles the desired behavior, and the previously reinforced response is no longer reinforced. This process of reinforcing closer and closer approximations continues until finally, only the exact desired behavior is reinforced.

Steps of Shaping Behavior

Applications of Shaping

Shaping can be applied to teach human behaviors, such as a child learning to clean his room. Parents can facilitate this by setting up and reinforcing a series of steps toward the final goal, rather than expecting the entire task to be performed at once. This process starts with reinforcing the child for cleaning up a single toy, followed by cleaning up five toys. The steps progress to him choosing whether to pick up ten toys or put his books and clothes away, then cleaning everything except two toys, until finally, he is reinforced for cleaning his entire room.

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