What term describes a behavior modification technique used to establish new behavior?

What term describes a behavior modification technique used to establish new behavior?

• A. Reinforcement
• B. Classical Conditioning
• C. Shaping
• D. Punishment

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is how behavior is strengthened through consequences. Reinforcement is any consequence that increases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated. When you’re aiming to establish a new behavior, you use reinforcement to reward improvements and closer and closer approximations to the target behavior, gradually building up to the full response. This approach works because reinforcing successive steps makes each new step more likely, creating a pathway to the desired behavior. Positive reinforcement adds a pleasant outcome after the behavior, while negative reinforcement removes an aversive condition to increase it. In contrast, punishment would aim to reduce a behavior, classical conditioning focuses on forming associations between stimuli, and shaping is a specific method that uses reinforcement to guide the development of a new behavior, but reinforcement is the general process that underpins establishing new behavior.

The idea being tested is how behavior is strengthened through consequences. Reinforcement is any consequence that increases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated. When you’re aiming to establish a new behavior, you use reinforcement to reward improvements and closer and closer approximations to the target behavior, gradually building up to the full response. This approach works because reinforcing successive steps makes each new step more likely, creating a pathway to the desired behavior. Positive reinforcement adds a pleasant outcome after the behavior, while negative reinforcement removes an aversive condition to increase it. In contrast, punishment would aim to reduce a behavior, classical conditioning focuses on forming associations between stimuli, and shaping is a specific method that uses reinforcement to guide the development of a new behavior, but reinforcement is the general process that underpins establishing new behavior.