Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Online Tutorial
	Module 5: Teaching New Skills and Behaviors Shaping What if I want to reinforce a behavior that the student is currently unable to perform? Let’s say that we want to increase a student’s behavior of using one-word phrases to request favorite items or activities. If a student is currently unable to speak very many entire words, but can repeat sounds, we might use shaping to teach that behavior. Shaping is defined as reinforcing successive approximations toward a larger target behavior. In other words, you teach by using small steps. Similar to the example shown in the video, if we want a student to say the word “cracker” to request a snack, we start when we know the child is hungry. We might initially prompt the child to say, "cracker" and provide a small piece of a cracker when he just says, "cuh." After the student is consistently successful with saying, “cuh,” we might start trying to get the child to say, "crak" and then the entire word, "cracker." A natural time to practice these skills might be at snack or meal time. The following video from Rethink Autism contains an example of shaping when teaching a child to wait. Initially, the child is required to wait only a few seconds before being provided with a favorite toy. This time could be gradually increased over time. Review: shaping is defined as reinforcing __________ __________ toward a larger target behavior. Next --> Token Economy