Shaping Behavior

Shaping behavior is a technique used to encourage desired actions by rewarding progress toward that goal. Instead of waiting for the complete behavior, small steps are rewarded along the way, gradually guiding the person or animal to perform the final goal. For example, if you want a dog to fetch, you might first reward it when it simply gets close to the object, then when it touches it, and eventually when it picks it up. This method helps reinforce incremental improvements, making learning new behaviors more manageable and effective.