(RBT®) Shaping with Curiosity

Shaping is often presented as a straightforward process: identify a terminal goal, reinforce successive approximations, and move steadily toward mastery. But in practice, learner progress is rarely that predictable.

In this Do Better Lens PDU, you’ll challenge the idea that shaping is a copy-and-paste intervention. Through research, real-world examples, and practical strategies, you’ll explore why effective shaping requires curiosity, flexibility, and careful observation—not simply following a predetermined sequence of approximations.

You’ll learn how shaping differs from chaining, how successive approximations build meaningful behavior change, and why learner responding should guide ongoing adjustments to the shaping program throughout the teaching process. Along the way, you’ll strengthen your ability to objectively observe learner behavior, recognize when progress may be signaling a need for adjustment, and communicate meaningful observations to your supervising BCBA.

Because shaping isn’t about helping learners fit the program. It’s about helping the program fit the learner.

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate shaping from chaining by identifying the defining characteristics of each teaching procedure.
• Explain how shaping uses successive approximations to teach new skills or strengthen existing behaviors while progressing toward a terminal goal. 
• Identify learner responding that may influence progress during shaping and describe the RBT’s role in objectively observing, measuring, and communicating those observations to the supervising BCBA.