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Simple Schedules of Reinforcement
One of the simplest schedules of reinforcement is the
continuous reinforcement schedule (CRF). Every
behavior is reinforced.
• Inserting money into a vending machine (almost
always) gives you your candy, soda, etc.
• Turning on the air conditioner (almost always) leads
to a blast of cool air on a hot day.
The opposite of CFR is extinction, which can be thought of
as a schedule of nonreinforcement.
Although continuous reinforcement typically leads to the
most rapid learning of a new behavior, it is probably rare in
the natural environment. Most behavior is reinforced on
some occasions and not others. When reinforcement
occurs on some occasions and not others, the behavior is
said to be on an intermittent schedule.
The most common intermittent schedules of reinforcement
are:
• Fixed ratio
• Variable ratio
• Fixed interval
• Variable interval
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Description of the Schedules of Reinforcement
Schedule of reinforcement: The delivery of a reinforcer
according to a preset pattern based on the number of
responses (a ratio) or the time interval (interval) between
responses.
FIXED VARIABLE
RATIO (#)
fixed ratio (FR): A reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered after a fixed number of responses has occurred.
Example: A food dispenser drops one food pellet after a pigeon pecks at a bar 25 times.
variable ratio (VR): A reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is randomly delivered on a preset ratio.
Example: A pigeon has a 1/25 chance of receiving a food pellet for every peck on the bar.
INTERVAL (time)
fixed interval (FI): A reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response after a fixed time interval has elapsed.
Example: A pigeon received a food pellet after the first press of the bar after a two minute interval.
variable interval (VI): A reinforcement schedule in which a reinforcer is randomly delivered for each time interval.
Example: A pigeon has a 1/120 chance every second to receive a food pellet after every press of the bar.
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Examples of each Schedule of Reinforcement
FIXED VARIABLE
RATIO (# of responses)
- A food dispenser drops one food pellet after a pigeon pecks at a bar 25 times.
- You win for every 4th^ card flipped over from a 52 card deck. ♠♦♣♥ ♥♦♠♦ ♣♥♠♦ ♣♣♥♦
- Phil, a real estate broker gets a bonus for every ten houses sold.
- Buy 12 cookies, get 2 free.
- A pigeon gets a food pellet, on the average every 25 pecks on the bar.
- A pigeon has a 1/25 chance of receiving a food pellet for every peck on the bar.
- You win for every heart that is flipped over from a 52 card deck. ♠♦♣♥ ♥♦♠♦ ♣♥♠♦ ♣♣♠♦
- A baseball player with a batting average of .333 will get a hit about 1/3 of the time.
- Baseball cards packs have four "premium card" per box of
- Slot machines payouts.
INTERVAL (time)
- A pigeon received a food pellet after the first press of the bar after a two-minute interval.
- Health inspects that occur in January and July.
- Scheduled drug testing
- Levar, an employee at McDonalds gets paid every two weeks.
- Receiving $40 for every day spent collecting signatures for a constitutional amendment. - A pigeon receives a food pellet after the first press of the bar at about 2 minutes. - A pigeon has a 1/120 chance every second to receive a food pellet after every press of the bar. - Random health inspections that occur twice a year. - Random drug testing.
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Schedules of Reinforcement: The likely effect of a
schedule of reinforcement on behavior
FIXED VARIABLE
RATIO
Produces a high rate of responding that follows a burst-pause-burst pattern. A pause after each reinforcer is obtained is usually occurs.
Example: If you get paid $ for mowing 2 lawns, you tend to take a break after mowing 2 lawns.
Produces a high rate of response with hardly any pauses between trials or reinforcement. Learning is more permanent and difficult to extinguish or eliminate.
Example: Imagine having a 50% chance of getting paid $20 for mowing a lawn. There is no break in behavior.
INTERVAL
Produces a pattern of responses where very few responses are obtained until the fixed interval of time approaches. The rate of response dramatically increases at this interval.
Example: Employee performance increases when they know their annual review draws near and decreases just as soon as it is over. A health inspection every January and July.
Produces a pattern of moderate and steady responses. It is not a good schedule for initial learning, but produces a highly stable performance.
Example: Random and/or surprise inspections by the health department.
