Final answer:
Shaping is a procedure used in psychology for both a and b option (C) behavior reduction and skill acquisition, allowing individuals to learn complex behaviors through reinforcement of successive approximations. This technique involves stimulus discrimination and is applied to both human and animal learning.
Step-by-step explanation:
Shaping is a procedure used in both behavior reduction and skill acquisition, which means the correct answer to the student's question is C. both a and b. In psychology, shaping refers to the method developed by B.F. Skinner in his operant conditioning experiments. Skinner used shaping by rewarding successive approximations toward a target behavior, hence reinforcing the behavior that gets closer to the desired outcome over time. This technique is useful for teaching complex behaviors by breaking them down into smaller, manageable actions, and rewarding each step along the way.
This technique is commonly used not only with animals, such as teaching pigeons to play ping pong, but also with humans. For example, a child might learn to clean their room through a series of steps, with each step being reinforced, leading to a full room clean-up. A fundamental part of shaping is involving stimulus discrimination, which is the ability to identify and respond to a specific stimulus that has been paired with reinforcement.