Which statement best describes Shaping in Behavioral Therapy?

• A. The final target behavior is rewarded only after it is fully demonstrated.
• B. The final target behavior is punished to reduce its occurrence.
• C. Behaviors that approximate or move toward the desired behavior are reinforced.
• D. All behaviors are ignored until they vanish.

Answer: (C)

Shaping builds new, complex behaviors by reinforcing successive approximations toward the desired goal. Instead of waiting for the full target behavior to appear, you reward any behavior that gets closer to it and then gradually raise the criteria so the person must do more precise steps to earn reinforcement. For example, teaching a child to say a complete sentence might start with rewarding eye contact, then a single word, then two-word phrases, and so on until the full sentence is spoken. This relies on positive reinforcement and small, incremental steps to shape the skill. The other descriptions describe different approaches: waiting for a full demonstration before rewarding is an all-or-nothing pattern; punishment reduces behavior rather than builds new ones; ignoring behaviors until they vanish reflects extinction rather than shaping.