SHAPING IN THE 21ST-CENTURY - MOVING PERCENTILE SCHEDULES INTO APPLIED SETTINGS

The present paper provides a primer on percentile reinforcement schedu les, which have been used for two decades to study response differenti ation and shaping in the laboratory. Arranged in applied settings, per centile procedures could be used to specify response criteria, standar dizing treatment across subjects, trainers, and times to provide a mor e consistent training environment while maintaining the sensitivity to the individual's repertoire that is the hallmark of shaping. Percenti le schedules are also valuable tools in analyzing the variables of whi ch responding is a function, both inside and outside the laboratory. F inally, by formalizing the rules of shaping, percentile schedules prov ide a useful heuristic of the process involved in shaping behavior, ev en for those situatios that may not easily permit their implementation s. As such, they may help further sensitize trainers and researchers a like to variables of critical importance in behavior change.