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Shaping — MRCPsych Paper A MCQ

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HardPsychologyShapingMRCPsych Paper A

A therapist is teaching tooth-brushing to a child with autism spectrum disorder. A token is initially given for orienting towards the toothbrush, subsequently only for moving a hand towards it, then for grasping it, and finally for brushing for 5 seconds. Whenever the criterion advances, the previously reinforced response no longer earns a token. The tooth-brushing routine is not divided into separately trained links. Which behavioural procedure is being used?

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Correct answer: E — Shaping by successive approximation

The procedure is **shaping by successive approximation**. Operant reinforcement is delivered for responses that become progressively closer in topography to the final target, while earlier approximations cease to be reinforced as the criterion advances. Forward chaining instead teaches and links the separate components of a behavioural sequence, usually beginning with its first component; the stem explicitly states that separate tooth-brushing links are not being trained. Stimulus fading gradually alters an antecedent stimulus rather than the required response. Counterconditioning pairs a stimulus with a response incompatible with the original conditioned response. Differential reinforcement of an incompatible response reinforces a competing behaviour that cannot occur simultaneously with the unwanted behaviour, rather than progressively refining one response.

Reference: Health Education England. Basic psychology, human development and social psychology, section “Clinical Implication”, p. 41. March 2017. https://madeinheene.hee.nhs.uk/Portals/19/Part%201-Cognitive%20development%20March%202017.pdf