Differential Reinforcement of Excellent Behavior (DREB) emphasizes which approach?

• A. It rewards responses that come closest to perfection
• B. It rewards responses that are faster than others
• C. It rewards any correct response
• D. It uses punishment for poor responses

Answer: (A)

DREB targets shaping behavior by reinforcing only the highest-quality responses, pushing performance toward near-perfection. You establish an excellence criterion and reinforce responses that meet or exceed that standard, while less-than-excellent attempts receive little or no reinforcement. This approach helps reduce variability and raises overall performance by focusing reinforcement on the degree of excellence, not just basic correctness or speed. For example, you reinforce only those responses that come very close to the ideal, gradually raising the standard as performance improves. The best answer reflects this idea: rewarding responses that come closest to perfection. Rewarding faster responses emphasizes speed, not quality; rewarding any correct response treats all correct attempts equally, not the level of excellence; and using punishment for poor responses is not aligned with reinforcement-based shaping.