Autoshaping

Modified: 2024-07-02 12:18 AM CDST

• Autoshaping is a problem for learning theory.
  • Autoshaping occurs as follows.
    • An animal, say a pigeon, is conditioned by turning on a stimulus, say a lighted key, and then giving it a reinforcer, food in this case.

    • So, all the pigeon has to do is to eat after the light comes on, right?
    • No, very often it begins to peck at the key.
    • What happens next?
    • Food is delivered. Soon, it is pecking all of the time.
    • Why? Because pecking is followed by food.
    • The pigeon has conditioned itself.
• Why did the pigeon start to peck?
  • That is the problem of autoshaping.
  • Once pecking begins, it is easy to explain why it continues.
  • However, there is no satisfactory explanation for why it starts. Notice that autoshaping is not operant conditioning. Can you see why?
  • (In operant conditioning, the response is required for reinforcement. There is no such requirement in autoshaping.)