PSYC 320 Week 5 DB Forum 4 Example

Discussion Board Forum 4: Thread and Two Replies

PSYC 320 Behavior Modification, Discussion Board Forum 4 (thread and two replies)

Thread by [Student Name]

The prompt, the writer's example and the classmates' posts are composites standing in for the course's own forum; the textbook, Scripture and peer-reviewed article are real; the requirements follow Liberty's public course guide for PSYC 320.

Thread

A friend of mine decided at 45 that he wanted to run a 5K, but after one minute of jogging he was out of breath and discouraged. Running thirty minutes was not a behavior he could perform, so there was nothing yet to reinforce. That is the situation shaping is designed for.

Miltenberger (2015) defines shaping as the differential reinforcement of successive approximations of a target behavior until the person exhibits it. The trainer starts with a behavior the person already performs, reinforces it until it is consistent, then raises the criterion to a slightly closer approximation and stops reinforcing the earlier one. Over time, the behavior moves step by step toward the goal.

For my friend, the steps might look like this. First, walk briskly for twenty minutes, three days a week. Second, alternate one minute of jogging with two minutes of walking. Third, jog two minutes and walk one. Fourth, jog five minutes at a time. Fifth, jog thirty minutes without stopping. Each step would be reinforced, with praise, a check mark on a calendar and, after each week, a small reward he chooses, and he would move forward only after completing a step on three separate days. If he could not finish a step, he would return to the previous one for a few sessions before trying again.

The hardest part of shaping is deciding how big each step should be. Galbicka (1994) describes percentile schedules, used in the laboratory and proposed for applied settings, in which a response is reinforced only if it exceeds a set percentage of the person's recent responses. Applied to running, my friend would earn reinforcement for any jog longer than most of his last several jogs. The criterion rises automatically as he improves and stays reachable when he has a bad week, which standardizes shaping while keeping it sensitive to the individual.

Isaiah 28:10 describes teaching that comes precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016). Growth by small, steady steps is not only a behavioral principle; it reflects how God often teaches his people.

Classmates: what behavior in your own life might you shape this way?

Reply to Jasmine

Jasmine, your plan to shape your nephew's word "milk," starting from any vocalization when he reaches for his cup, is a classic use of shaping, and it is the kind of example the chapter uses. Miltenberger (2015) notes that the first approximation must be something the child already does, and that each step must be reinforced immediately. Galbicka (1994) would add that basing the criterion on his recent attempts keeps steps from getting too far ahead of him. Proverbs 22:6 encourages training a child from the start (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016). You might reinforce "mmm" for a few days, then require "mi" before giving the cup, and later the full word. How will you decide when "mmm" becomes "mi"?

Reply to Owen

Owen, you asked what to do when a learner stalls at one step for weeks. Miltenberger (2015) recommends returning to the previous approximation, reinforcing it again and then trying a smaller step forward, since a stall usually means the step was too large or the reinforcer has lost its value. Percentile schedules can prevent stalls by setting criteria from the learner's own recent performance (Galbicka, 1994). Paul's word in Galatians 6:9, that persistence in doing good brings a harvest at the right time (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016), fits a learner who has stalled. Checking whether the reward still matters to the learner is worth doing too. Which step do you think is too large in your plan?

References

English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Crossway. (Original work published 2001)

Galbicka, G. (1994). Shaping in the 21st century: Moving percentile schedules into applied settings. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27(4), 739-760. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1994.27-739

Miltenberger, R. G. (2015). Behavior modification: Principles and procedures (6th ed.). Cengage Learning.