If a learner makes frequent mistakes during shaping, the criteria for reinforcement may be raised too quickly.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Sometimes
• D. Not sure

Answer: (B)

In shaping, reinforcement is tied to progressing through successive approximations, and you raise criteria only after the learner reliably performs at the current level. If mistakes occur frequently, increasing the criterion too quickly makes reinforcement depend on a harder target the learner hasn’t consistently met yet. That can slow learning, increase frustration, and even reduce the chances of progress because reinforcement becomes scarce. The safer approach is to maintain the current criterion until performance is stable, then gradually raise the standard, using prompts or prompts-with-differential reinforcement as needed. So the statement is not correct: you don’t raise criteria too quickly when mistakes are frequent.