Which concept involves rewarding someone for making gradual changes in behavior?

The concept that involves rewarding someone for making gradual changes in behavior is shaping behavior. This approach is based on the principle of operant conditioning, where behaviors are reinforced in incremental steps toward a desired outcome. Instead of requiring the individual to exhibit the final behavior immediately, shaping focuses on reinforcing successive approximations of that behavior.

In practice, this means that as a person makes small steps toward the desired behavior, those steps are acknowledged and rewarded. This not only encourages the individual to continue improving but also creates a positive learning environment where they feel motivated to progress.

The other concepts listed, while related to behavior modification, operate differently. For instance, positive reinforcement involves providing a reward for a specific behavior, but it doesn't focus on the gradual process of developing that behavior. Punishment is aimed at discouraging unwanted behavior rather than encouraging gradual change. Extinction refers to the process of ceasing the reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior, which typically leads to a reduction in that behavior rather than its gradual improvement.