1. Task
1) Select a subject or participant (e.g., pet, Sniffy, human) to teach a new behavior or skill

2) Operationally define the target behavior or skill (e.g., rat’s pressing the bar in the operant conditioning chamber, dog’s circling around two cones one by one, baby’s rolling a ball on the table toward mom)

3) Teach the target behavior using the shaping behavioral technique and collect the frequency of the target behavior in each session.

3) Graph the obtained behavioral data in sessions.

2. Sections Needed in the Laboratory Report
1) Introduction: Summarize the background literature, State the purpose of the lab experiment

2) Method:
Subject or Participant: Describe the animal or person who was the subject or who participated in your study, Describe how the participant was recruited and how informed consent was obtained.

Apparatus and/or Measures: Describes the apparatus (e.g., operant conditioning chamber) or materials used in the experiment. Describe the measured target behavior (e.g., bar pressing) including what was measured (e.g., the frequency of bar pressing).

Procedure: Describe the procedures implemented to teach the target behavior or skill (e.g., magazine training, shaping procedure).

3) Results: Report the obtained data (e.g., frequency of bar pressing in sessions, cumulative record of bar pressing in sessions) using a figure or table. Summarize the obtained the data. Note. A narrative description of the subject or participant’s behavior during the session is acceptable in this shaping project.

4) Discussion: Interpret and explain the obtained results. Summarize major findings (e.g., whether the shaping technique was effective in teaching the new target behavior or skill). State any limitations of the experiment conducted and the data obtained, if there are. Give any direction or suggestion for future research in relation to the experiment conducted (e.g., the application of shaping procedure in animal training and in teaching new behavior to a human participant).

5) References: List all reference articles and/or books cited in the Introduction.