Final answer:
Teaching a dog to jump by gradually increasing the height at which food is held in front of him is an example of shaping. Shaping is a technique used in animal training to reinforce behaviors that are closer and closer to the desired behavior.
Step-by-step explanation:
Teaching a dog to jump by gradually increasing the height at which food is held in front of him is an example of shaping. Shaping is a technique used in animal training that involves reinforcing behaviors that are closer and closer to the desired behavior.
In this case, the trainer starts by rewarding the dog for jumping even a small distance. As the dog becomes comfortable with this, the trainer gradually increases the height at which the food is held, only rewarding the dog when it jumps to reach the higher level.
This process of shaping helps the dog learn how to jump by breaking down the behavior into smaller steps and reinforcing each step along the way.
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