Success by shaping

The written score represents a series of small movements, performed in quick succession. (Image by ElasticComputeFarm)

Explaining is not teaching, but it’s usually a tool that teachers rely on anyway. It comes in handy in some situations, like giving multi-step directions.

But what do you do when you can’t explain something because you don’t speak the same language? It’s one thing to tell a group of kids what’s expected of them in an obstacle course, but what about a mouse?

In that case, you rely on shaping. Essentially, you reward any steps in the direction (sometimes literally) of what you want the training subject to do, even if they bear little resemblance to the desired behavior. It’s not unlike that old game Hot and Cold, except you reward “hot” and ignore “cold.” The reward can consist of a treat, or a marker (like the click of a clicker or the word “good”) that lets the learner know that a treat is forthcoming.

Shaping gives you results like this:

The hats are just for entertainment purposes.

Another term for shaping is “successive approximation.” If you were playing darts, successive approximation means that at first, you just try to hit the wall that the dartboard is on. Then you try, over the course of a few training sessions, to get closer to the dartboard, refining your velocity and aim. During most of the training sessions, you aren’t hitting the target, but you’re getting closer to hitting the target, training various components of the necessary behaviors and skills.

Ol’ B.F. Skinner gets a bad rap sometimes, but using his methods creates a humane and encouraging environment for a willing learner. The focus is not on what isn’t working, but building on what is. Such a positive framework eliminates a lot of pain and frustration from the learning process.

Left to our own devices, many of us are far crueler to ourselves than any trainer would dare to be. As a result, we give up in a huff long before we have achieved our goal. In the darts example, how many of us, embarrassed that our dart fell short of the wall or hit the left of the dartboard, would quit forever or criticize ourselves harshly? Based on my experience as a teacher, I would say this is very common. It’s sad and ironic: we’ve taken the first of many steps toward success, but we dismiss it as failure.

There need not be any shame in not succeeding on the first try. What matters is not how quickly we learn, but how well. There’s nothing wrong with taking many, many, successive approximations to reach success. It’s a normal part of the process. The trainer and learner both have to be patient—particularly so if we’re filling both roles.

A friend of mine is working toward publishing a blog every day. She began by simply writing more, sometimes increasing the frequency of writing sessions and sometimes increasing the length. Then, as her writing grew more consistent, she set her sights on publishing. Once, and then again. And then again.

Now, she’s seeking to publish on certain days, and as long as she does so anytime on that calendar date, she’s pleased. From there, she can refine her process to publish by a certain time of day. Little by little, she’s shaping her behavior, taking pride in her efforts and results and skipping the shame and anxiety about what she “should" be doing. It’s working.

When we understand and embrace shaping, we can easily train pets, children, students, and subordinates. Instead of focusing on the undesirable behavior, we look for any behavior that’s moving in the direction of what we want and reward that behavior. The reward can be as small as smile or thumbs up—it doesn’t always need to be candy or kibble. More often than not, the subject (even if it’s a pet who can’t talk) will eventually respond with, “Oh, you mean like this?” and demonstrate the desired behavior. The breakthrough, when they finally get it, is electric.

Most importantly, you can use this training method on yourself. Your reward may be nothing more than a sense of satisfaction, but that’s important and valuable in itself. When you use shaping, you allow yourself to feel satisfaction when you throw the dart in the general direction of the dartboard without hitting a living being. If your dart then hits the ceiling on a subsequent attempt, you stay neutral and try again. Simple as it is, this approach is dramatically different from what a lot of people are used to. Try it and be amazed.

Using shaping, you can learn or teach complex skills and enjoy the process. For more on this powerful technique, check out Karen Pryor’s brilliant Don’t Shoot the Dog: The Art of Teaching and Training.