In token economies, shaping is...

Study for the NCMHCE Theories and Techniques Test. Boost your understanding with flashcards and multiple choice questions, hints, and detailed explanations. Prepare confidently for your exam!

Multiple Choice

In token economies, shaping is...

Explanation:
Shaping is a gradual process of reinforcing closer and closer steps toward a desired behavior. In a token economy, you reward small, incremental progress with tokens, and those tokens can eventually be exchanged for backup reinforcers. This approach builds the full target behavior piece by piece, rather than waiting for an all-or-nothing display. Punishing incorrect responses describes punishment, not shaping. Providing tokens only after a major achievement skips the incremental progress that shaping relies on. Ignoring the behavior until it stops resembles extinction, not shaping.

Shaping is a gradual process of reinforcing closer and closer steps toward a desired behavior. In a token economy, you reward small, incremental progress with tokens, and those tokens can eventually be exchanged for backup reinforcers. This approach builds the full target behavior piece by piece, rather than waiting for an all-or-nothing display.

Punishing incorrect responses describes punishment, not shaping. Providing tokens only after a major achievement skips the incremental progress that shaping relies on. Ignoring the behavior until it stops resembles extinction, not shaping.

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