Shaping in operant conditioning involves which of the following?

Shaping in operant conditioning is a technique used to teach new behaviors by reinforcing successive approximations toward a desired outcome. This involves gradually reinforcing parts of a behavior to bring the subject closer to the overall desired behavior. For example, if a trainer wants a dog to roll over, they might first reward the dog for simply lying down, then for turning its body onto its side, and finally for completing the roll. Each small step is reinforced until the complete behavior is achieved.

This gradual reinforcement allows for a more manageable and systematic approach to learning complex behaviors. It is especially useful when the desired behavior is not something that the subject can do naturally right from the start.

In contrast, reinforcing an entire behavior at once would not be effective in the context of shaping, as it does not acknowledge the incremental steps needed to achieve more complex actions. Punishing undesirable behaviors immediately can have negative effects and does not foster the learning of new behavior through reinforcement. Completely ignoring behaviors does not provide direction or feedback, which is essential in shaping a desired behavior. Thus, the process of shaping focuses specifically on the gradual reinforcement of steps leading toward a complete behavior.