Final answer:
The psychology students shaped their teacher's location preference through operant conditioning, reinforcing her position on the right side by showing more interest there.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the textbook example, the students were shaping the teacher's behavior by appearing interested when she stood on the right side of the room and bored when she stood on the left. This is an example of operant conditioning, where the teacher's behavior is being modified by its consequences—in this case, the attention and interest of the students serving as reinforcement. B.F.
Skinner, a major proponent of operant conditioning, demonstrated that behavior could be shaped through rewards or punishments. In the classroom scenario, the teacher is likely to gradually prefer standing on the right side due to the positive reinforcement of engaged students. Unlike classical conditioning, where an organism learns to associate two stimuli, operant conditioning involves learning to associate behavior with its consequences.