ABA SAFMEDS Practice Exam 2026 – Complete Study Resource

Shaping is the process of reinforcing successive approximations toward a terminal behavior. You start with a behavior the learner already emits or can emit, reinforce that, and then gradually require closer and closer steps that resemble the final target. Over time, the criteria are adapted so each tiny improvement is shaped into the full, desired behavior, often using prompts or fading to guide the learner toward the end goal. For example, teaching a child to say a complete word might begin with reinforcing any vocalization, then reinforcing syllables, then the whole word, and finally the correct pronunciation. This approach differs from spontaneous recovery, which is about a previously extinguished behavior reappearing after a break; maintenance, which is about continuing a behavior over time after learning it; and imitation, which focuses on copying a modeled behavior rather than gradually shaping closer and closer approximations to the target.