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Sanders Reflection And Application Paper

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Sanders Reflection and Application Paper #5
Within the realm of behavior modification the techniques of shaping, chaining, prompting and fading, and behavioral skills training procedures are employed to establish new and desired behaviors for a variety of different people for various reasons. Deciding which technique to utilize is dependent on such variables as context, situation, target goal behavior, intellectual ability or disability, and individual skill level. Miltenberger (2016) discusses each of the above mentioned techniques in chapters 9 – 12. He delivers clear definitions for each technique and associated key terms as well as providing ample scenarios and areas where they may be seen and used.
At one time or another everyone engages in the shaping technique, whether as the object of behavior modification or as the discriminative stimulus. This may occur as an intentional overt process or covertly beyond a person’s scope of understanding or even happen without them being fully aware, but nonetheless shaping still takes place. The shaping technique operates from the premise that a desired target behavior can be reached by using reinforcement which is “a procedure for increasing the frequency of a desirable behavior” (Miltenberger, 2016, p. 163). An example of a behavior frequently shaped is a baby’s ability to speak. It goes without saying that to employ the shaping technique some type of behavior has to exist to be shaped. That is, you cannot teach (shape) a

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