Early on we were all told when to, and when not to do certain things. This method of discipline for a child is commonly known as shaping. Shaping is when reinforcers guide a behavior closer toward a desired behavior. B. F. Skinner created the shaping method to describe how by reinforcing small actions, you can work towards a target behavior. This is especially true in children and animals. Children are very impressionable and look closely at everything we do. While we don’t often know it, children pick up on little actions made by adults and copy them because it is what they see others doing. Another example of shaping is how animals are trained to simply cooperate and do tricks. When a dog is given a treat after performing a good behavior they learn that that’s what is expected of them the next time the reinforcer asks them to do an action.
About 3 years ago my family decided to get a dog. My dog’s name is Comet and he is a golden retriever. The golden retriever breed is known for wanting to please everyone, they are very loving and caring. When we first got him we hired a personal trainer to help train him to not do little things like, go to the bathroom in the house, jump on people, and simply listen to commands. The method she used for certain skills was giving Comet treats as a reward for completing a good action. She would start by moving his body for him and then giving him a treat, as time went on he learned that when she says a certain command he is to complete the taught action, which will result in him getting a treat. At the end of each session, Comet would have learned a new trick and was shaped by the trainer to know certain commands and the responses connected to those commands.
Harvey, Caroline. “Shaping: Supporting Children in Learning New Behaviors.” Kurtz Psychology, 30 June 2021, www.kurtzpsychology.com/shaping-supporting-children-in-learning-new-behaviors/. Accessed 07 Apr. 2024.
I really like that you included your personal experience with your dog in this post. Comet seems like a sweetheart and I’m sure he is a very good boy. Positive reinforcement is one of the most valuable tools when training a dog, especially golden retrievers, who love to people please as you said. I have two goldens as well and my family and I do our best to train them but it seems as though we aren’t the best at it. It requires a lot of work to train dogs especially using only positive reinforcement. Sometimes we will use positive punishment when one of the dogs does something bad, like tearing up the grass in the yard which works to an extent, but most of the time they just think were playing a game!
I also loved learning about shaping and reinforcement. You explained these topics really well and the examples used worked well along side these topics. I loved how you used your dog as an example and I can relate to this with my dog when he was a puppy and training him!