Answer:
The technique of rewarding successive approximations of a desired behavior is SHAPING.
Step-by-step explanation:
B. F. Skinner was an American psychologist who developed behavior analysis. He believed free will to be a mere illusion and proved, via several experiments, that behavior is shaped according to how it is reinforced. If the consequence of a certain behavior is bad, then it is likely that it won't be repeated. However, if the consequence is good, chances are that this behavior will be done again.
Shaping is a technique that helps teach a certain behavior by means of reinforcing it. Let's take teaching a dog how to lie down as an example. At first, we reward the dog by giving it a treat every time he comes over when his name is called. Then, we stop rewarding that action and start giving him treats when he sits down. Finally, we only reward him when he lies down, which is the desired behavior. What we did was reinforce the responses that took the dog closer to the behavior we wanted (shaping).