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SCHEDULES USING NOXIOUS STIMULI. L MULTIPLE FIXED‐RATIO AND FIXED‐INTERVAL TERMINATION OF SCHEDULE COMPLEXES 1
Author(s) -
Morse W. H.,
Kelleher R. T.
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.1966.9-267
Subject(s) - schedule , reinforcement , computer science , interval (graph theory) , psychology , mathematics , social psychology , combinatorics , operating system
The termination of a schedule complex, comprising a stimulus in the presence of which brief presentations of electric shocks are scheduled, is a reinforcer. Conditions were studied under which schedule‐controlled patterns of responding characteristic of fixed‐interval, fixed‐ratio, and multiple fixed‐interval fixed‐ratio schedules can be maintained in the squirrel monkey by terminating a schedule complex. The schedule of shock presentation was a critical determinant of the patterns of responding, especially under fixed‐interval schedules of termination. The rates and patterns of responding under various schedules of termination of schedule complexes were generally akin to those maintained under comparable schedules of food presentation. The findings suggest a general similarity in the dynamic aspects of performances under schedules of schedule‐complex termination and comparable schedules of food presentation. The schedule of reinforcement is more important than the nature of the reinforcer in the control of behavior.