Question

Sean wants to teach his dog to turn the light on. What would be the best way to train his dog, utilizing the idea of shaping? What might he do that using the concept of shaping?

reward his dog when the dog looks at the light switch, when she touches the lightswitch, when she pushes it, and when she turns it on by command
reward his dog when she touches the lightswitch, when she pushes it, when she looks at it, and when she turns it on by command
reward his dog when she turns it on by command, when she touches it, when she looks at it, and when she pushes it.
reward his dog when she touches the lightswitch, when she looks at it, when she turns it on by command, and when she pushes it.

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To train his dog to turn on the light using the concept of shaping, Sean should reward behaviors progressively leading up to the final goal. Shaping involves reinforcing successive approximations of the desired behavior.

The best approach would be to reward his dog when she looks at the light switch, then for touching it, then for pushing it, and finally for turning it on by command. This step-by-step reinforcement builds toward the ultimate goal of turning the light on.

Thus, the best option from the choices provided is:

**Reward his dog when she looks at the light switch, when she touches the light switch, when she pushes it, and when she turns it on by command.**

This method ensures that each small step towards the final behavior is recognized and rewarded, making the training process clear and encouraging for the dog.