Final answer:
The answer is 'shaping,' an operant conditioning technique involving positive reinforcement of successive steps toward a target behavior. It was famously used by B.F. Skinner and is effective because it breaks down complex behaviors into smaller, more manageable steps.
Step-by-step explanation:
The most effective method for teaching a new behavior that involves balancing the right amount of reinforcement is shaping. Shaping is a technique used in operant conditioning, involving positive reinforcement of successive steps that approximate the target behavior. This approach breaks down the desired behavior into smaller, manageable steps and rewards each of these steps to gradually lead the subject towards the final goal. B.F. Skinner, a famous psychologist, utilized shaping to teach pigeons to perform complex tasks such as playing ping pong. Additionally, the use of continuous reinforcement in the initial stages of learning ensures that the new behavior is quickly learned and associates the behavior with a positive outcome. For humans, shaping can be observed when teaching a child to clean their room by reinforcing them for completing incremental tasks leading up to the full behavior.
Effective reinforcement schedules play a crucial role in shaping. When introducing a new behavior, continuous reinforcement is typically used, as it involves providing the reinforcer every time the behavior occurs, which rapidly establishes a strong association between the behavior and the reinforcement. Over time, to maintain the behavior without over-reliance on reinforcement, other schedules such as intermittent reinforcement may be employed.