A Case History on Shaping Technique Development: Dynamic Stimulus Control Shaping

This study investigated a novel method for implementing programs of graduated stimulus change aimed at teaching arbitrary matching to children—stimulus fading in this case. Whereas typical fading programs arrange graduated stimulus change across trials, our method used computer animation to arrange stimulus changes within trials. Thus, children could observe stimuli changing dynamically rather than statically as in typical fading procedures. We hypothesized that dynamic stimulus change would likely prove superior to static change. When dynamic versus static fading procedures were compared, however, both procedures yielded similar, variable learning outcomes. Nevertheless, our study showed that dynamic fading was feasible, perhaps setting the stage for further research to assess whether variations in the parameters of dynamic fading might lead to greater successes.