which term best describes rewarding successive approximations of a target behavior?

The term that best describes rewarding successive approximations of a target behavior is "shaping." Shaping is a behavioral psychology technique where behaviors that are closer and closer to the desired target behavior are reinforced gradually until the target behavior is achieved. This process involves reinforcing successive approximations toward the final behavior, effectively guiding the subject step-by-step through incremental improvements. It is widely used in behavior modification and training to establish new behaviors or skills by rewarding each small progression toward the goal behavior.