Final answer:
Autoshaping is a type of conditioning where an organism learns a simple behavior without external guidance, typically through the association of that behavior with a reward.
Step-by-step explanation:
Autoshaping refers to a type of conditioning in which an organism, typically an animal, learns to associate a specific behavior with a reward in the absence of direct guidance or instruction. This learning process is largely automatic or self-directed, driven by the innate behaviors of the organism and the consistent presentation of a reward following a particular action. An example of this could be a pigeon in an operant conditioning chamber that begins to peck at a key or disk because it learns, without explicit guidance, that pecking leads to food delivery.
In contrast, shaping is often applied to the learning of complex behaviors through successive approximations, where each step closer to the desired behavior is rewarded. This process usually requires active guidance and reinforcement, unlike autoshaping.
Therefore, out of the options provided, autoshaping is best described as learning a simple behavior without external guidance. It is a form of associative learning that can be observed without formal teaching programs, akin to the natural tendencies to imitate seen in childhood learning.