Modern Principles of Shaping

Per Karen Pryor's books about training, the 10 (Modern) Principles of Shaping include:

1.       Be prepared before you start. Be ready to click/treat immediately when the training session begins. When shaping a new behavior, be ready to capture the very first tiny inclination the animal gives you toward your goal behavior. This is especially true when working with a prop such as a target stick or a mat on the ground.

2.       Ensure success at each step. Break behavior down into small enough pieces that the learner always has a realistic chance to earn a reinforcer.

3.       Train one criterion at a time. Shaping for two criteria or aspects of a behavior simultaneously can be very confusing. One click should not mean two different criteria.

4.       Relax criteria when something changes. When introducing a new criterion or aspect of the skill, temporarily relax the old criteria for previously mastered skills.

5.       If one door closes, find another. If a particular shaping procedure is not progressing, try another way.

6.       Keep training sessions continuous. The animal should be continuously engaged in the learning process throughout the session. He should be working the entire time, except for the moment he’s consuming/enjoying his reinforcer. This also means keeping a high rate of reinforcement.

7.       Go back to kindergarten, if necessary. If a behavior deteriorates, quickly revisit the last successful approximation or two so that the animal can easily earn reinforcers.

8.       Keep your attention on your learner. Interrupting a training session gratuitously by taking a phone call, chatting, or doing something else that can wait often cause learners to lose momentum and get frustrated by the lack of information. If you need to take a break, give the animal a “goodbye present,” such as a small handful of treats.

9.       Stay ahead of your learner. Be prepared to “skip ahead” in your shaping plan if your learner makes a sudden leap.

10.   Quit while you’re ahead. End each session with something the learner finds reinforcing. If possible, end a session on a strong behavioral response, but, at any rate, try to end with your learner still eager to go on.

Karen Pryor's blog post with the source document: link