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How do we learn complex skills, multi-step skills such as brushing teeth or making a snack?
We use a concept called shaping!
So…what is shaping?
Shaping is the process of systematically and differentially reinforcing successive approximations to a terminal behavior (Cooper, Heron, Heward, 2007).
In other words: As a new skill is taught, we want to provide reinforcement (something personally motivating) for the child’s best approximation. As the skill is refined, the child will only receive reinforcement for their best attempt. Instead of expecting someone to immediately perform the desired behavior perfectly, shaping involves reinforcing successive approximations of the behavior until the final target behavior is achieved.
But…how??
- Define the target behavior (terminal behavior). What is our goal?
- Let’s use toothbrushing as our example. Janice is a 2 year old who does not tolerate her teeth being brushed. Her parents’ goal is for Janice to tolerate an adult brushing her teeth for 1 minute.
- Break down the behavior into small steps.
- Allow toothbrush into mouth
- Allow toothbrush to touch tooth 1 second
- Allow toothbrush to touch tooth 5 seconds
- Allow brushing 5 seconds
- Allow brushing 10 seconds
- Continue to work up to 1 minute
- Reinforce the first step!
- Janice’s mother decides to try shaping for toothbrushing. She offers reinforcement choices to Janice. Janice chooses to play Red Light, Green Light as reinforcement. Janice’s mother decides to see the baseline of what Janice tolerates now that she has chosen reinforcement. She is surprised to see that Janice allowed Mom to place the toothbrush to her teeth for 5 seconds. She praises Janice and plays Red Light, Green Light.
- Continue reinforcing and raise the reinforcement criteria.
- Janice has allowed brushing for 5 seconds successfully for three days. Mom decides it’s time to go to the next step- Janice must tolerate 10 seconds of brushing to play Red Light, Green Light. Mom continues to gradually increase the amount of time tolerating brushing teeth to gain access to reinforcement until she reaches 1 minute. The entire process takes Mom 2 months to complete.
- Generalize!
- Janice allows her mom to brush but does not tolerate her dad brushing her teeth. Dad begins to use the same shaping routine that Mom had previously used. It takes him 1 week for Janice to tolerate her dad brushing for 1 minute.
- Fade out reinforcement.
- Janice has been allowing both of her parents to brush her teeth for 1 minute for some time now. Her parents begin to fade out reinforcement- they still provide it sometimes, but not every time.
Shaping offers several benefits for gradually teaching new skills, particularly daily living skills. It allows individuals to make progress at their own pace, breaking down overwhelming tasks into manageable steps. Each step may take varying amounts of time, and the number of steps for tasks can also vary based on the individual. You may also find the reinforcer preferences change over the shaping period- that’s okay too!
Although we are often discussing shaping children’s behavior, shaping is a tool that anyone can implement- even for yourself! One popular program that utilizes shaping is the “Couch to 5k”. Another popular example: you want to drink more water daily. You set a goal to drink 8 glasses a day, at least 3 times a week. If you meet your goal, you plan on treating yourself to something you’ve had your eye on. When you meet your 3 times a week goal, you set a new goal for drinking 8 glasses of water 4 times a week before treating yourself. You are now shaping your own behavior!