Shaping is a less technical term for the process of reinforcing successive approximations to a target behavior. Chaining is building up a sequence of behaviors, each under stimulus control, the sequence ending in a reinforcer. To oversimplify, one uses shaping (reinforcement of successive approximations) to cause a new behavior to occur. One then uses chaining to combine a number of shaped behaviors in sequence to build a more complex behavior.
In the pigeon example, the pigeon was separately shaped through the reinforcement of successive approximations to peck a banana, stand on a chair, and push a chair. The pigeon then 'spontaneously' combined these three behaviors into a chain terminating in food reinforcement. I could go into much more detail. Catania's LEARNING text is a good source. On Jan 12, 2014, at 6:57 PM, Michael Britt wrote: > Okay, so what's the difference between chaining, shaping and the method of > successive approximations? > > > Michael A. Britt, Ph.D. > [email protected] > http://www.ThePsychFiles.com > Twitter: @mbritt > > On Jan 12, 2014, at 10:57 AM, Paul Brandon <[email protected]> wrote: > >> There was a classic film many many years ago from Skinner's lab (may have >> been by Robert Epstein) showing a pigeon trained separately to push a chair, >> and to stand on a chair to peck at a cardboard banana (a clear riff on >> Kohler). >> The pigeon spontaneously combined the two behaviors into a chain that had >> not been explicitly taught, looking at the banana, then the chair, then >> pushing the chair under the banana (with much sighting) until it could stand >> on the chair and peck the banana. >> >> On Jan 12, 2014, at 9:08 AM, Christopher Green wrote: >> >>> I friend sent this to me yesterday. It looks trained to me, especially the >>> dog nosing the chair over to the counter. An who leaves food sitting in >>> their toaster oven in the morning, especially if one has a dog? >>> >>> Chris >>> --- >>> Christopher D. Green >>> Department of Psychology >>> York University >>> Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 >>> Canada >>> >>> [email protected] >>> http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ >>> ========================= >>> >>> On 2014-01-12, at 8:29 AM, Michael Britt wrote: >>> >>>> Here's a fun video I discovered (after almost 2 million people already >>>> discovered it) that shows a dog figuring out how to get at some food. The >>>> video reminded me of the Kohler's research. A good example to talk about >>>> while discussing Kohler or during a discussion on intelligence/cognition >>>> or learning. is this a "smart dog" (anthropomorphism) or an example of >>>> behavioral chaining? >>>> >>>> >>>> Michael A. Britt, Ph.D. >> Paul Brandon Emeritus Professor of Psychology Minnesota State University, Mankato [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=32677 or send a blank email to leave-32677-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
