Which technique involves gradually fading out hints used to guide behavior?

The technique that involves gradually fading out hints used to guide behavior is stimulus fading. This approach helps individuals learn to respond to stimuli independently by initially providing cues or prompts and then systematically reducing these cues over time. By gradually fading the hints, the individual can learn to identify and respond to the target behavior without reliance on the prompts, leading to increased independence and mastery of the skill.

In the context of behavioral interventions, stimulus fading is particularly effective because it maintains the learner's engagement while reducing dependency on external prompts. This is essential for promoting long-term retention of skills and generalization to different contexts.

The other techniques listed each serve different purposes within behavioral education and do not focus specifically on the gradual reduction of prompts. Task analysis involves breaking down a complex task into smaller, manageable components rather than fading hints. Discrimination training centers on teaching an individual to differentiate between stimuli, while naturalistic teaching strategies emphasize learning in more organic settings and contexts, which may not specifically involve hint fading as a core component.