fei75766_ch16_495-533.indd 507  02/06/20 01:34 PM
Chapter 16    Skinner: Behavioral Analysis507
behavior (B)ofdressing 
himself. Thisresponse 
must bewithin theboy’s 
repertoire andmust not
beinterfered withby
competing orantagonis -
ticbehaviors, suchas
distractions from siblings 
ortelevision. Theconse -
quence isthereward (C),
thatis,thecandy. 
Ifreinforcement 
in creases theprobabil -
itythatagiven response 
willrecur, thenhowcan
behavior beshaped from 
therelatively undifferen -
tiated intothehighly complex? Inother words, whydoesn’t theorganism simply 
repeat theoldreinforced response? Whydoesitemitnewresponses thathavenever 
been reinforced butthatgradually move ittoward thetarget behavior? Theanswer 
isthatbehavior isnotdiscrete butcontinuous; thatis,theorganism usually moves 
slightly beyond thepreviously reinforced response. Ifbehavior werediscrete, shap-
ingcould notoccur because theorganism would become locked intosimply emitting 
previously reinforced responses. Because behavior iscontinuous, theorganism moves 
slightly beyond thepreviously reinforced response, andthisslightly exceptional value 
canthenbeusedasthenewminimum standard forreinforcement. (The organism 
mayalsomove slightly backward orslightly sideways, butonlymovements toward the
desired target arereinforced.) Skinner (1953) compared shaping behavior toasculp -
tormolding astatue from alarge lump ofclay.Inbothcases, thefinalproduct seems 
tobedifferent from theoriginal form, butthehistory ofthetransformation reveals 
continuous behavior andnotasetofdiscrete steps.
Operant behavior always takes place insome environment, andtheenvironment 
hasaselective roleinshaping andmaintaining behavior. Each ofushasahistory of
being reinforced byreacting tosome elements inourenvironment butnottoothers. 
Thishistory ofdifferential reinforcement results inoperant discrimination. Skinner 
claimed thatdiscrimination isnotanability thatwepossess butaconsequence ofour
reinforcement history. Wedonotcome tothedinner table because wediscern that
thefoodisready; wecome because ourprevious experiences ofreacting inasimilar 
wayhavebeen mostly reinforced. Thisdistinction mayseem tobesplitting hairs, but
Skinner feltthatithadimportant theoretical andpractical implications. Advocates 
ofthefirstexplanation seediscrimination asacognitive function, existing within the
person, whereas Skinner accounted forthisbehavior byenvironmental differences 
andbytheindividual’s history ofreinforcement. Thefirstexplanation isbeyond the
scope ofempirical observation; thesecond canbescientifically studied.
Aresponse toasimilar environment intheabsence ofprevious reinforce -
ment iscalled stimulus generalization. Anexample ofstimulus generalization is
provided byacollege student’s purchase ofaticket toarockconcert performed 
Even complex behavior, suchaslearning towork acomputer, is
acquired through shaping andsuccessive approximation. 
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