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SHAPING IN THE 21ST CENTURY: MOVING PERCENTILE SCHEDULES INTO APPLIED SETTINGS
Author(s) -
Galbicka Gregory
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.1994.27-739
Subject(s) - percentile , heuristic , repertoire , function (biology) , computer science , sensitivity (control systems) , psychology , reinforcement , human–computer interaction , artificial intelligence , statistics , social psychology , engineering , mathematics , physics , evolutionary biology , electronic engineering , acoustics , biology
The present paper provides a primer on percentile reinforcement schedules, which have been used for two decades to study response differentiation and shaping in the laboratory. Arranged in applied settings, percentile procedures could be used to specify response criteria, standardizing treatment across subjects, trainers, and times to provide a more consistent training environment while maintaining the sensitivity to the individual's repertoire that is the hallmark of shaping. Percentile schedules are also valuable tools in analyzing the variables of which responding is a function, both inside and outside the laboratory. Finally, by formalizing the rules of shaping, percentile schedules provide a useful heuristic of the processes involved in shaping behavior, even for those situations that may not easily permit their implementation. As such, they may help further sensitize trainers and researchers alike to variables of critical importance in behavior change.