During shaping, what happens to behavior that is not one of the current approximations?

• A. It is placed on extinction.
• B. It is reinforced.
• C. It is ignored.
• D. It is punished.

Answer: (A)

Shaping works by reinforcing only the responses that move you closer to the final target, step by step. Any behavior that isn’t part of the current approximation isn’t reinforced, and without reinforcement those non-target behaviors fade away over time. That fading is extinction. So, during shaping, behaviors not on the current path toward the goal disappear because they aren’t being reinforced, leaving only the next desired approximation to strengthen and build upon. For example, when teaching someone to write letters, you’d reinforce the stroke that progresses toward a letter, ignore other movements, and those non-progressing movements would diminish as shaping continues.