Premium
INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT OF AN INTERRESPONSE TIME 1
Author(s) -
Wilkie Donald M.,
Pear Joseph J.
Publication year - 1972
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.1972.17-67
Subject(s) - reinforcement , differential reinforcement , schedule , psychology , statistics , computer science , mathematics , social psychology , operating system
Rats were exposed to schedules in which reinforcement was contingent upon the emission of a 1.0‐ to 2.0‐sec interresponse time. The rate of emission and the temporal distribution of this interresponse time was recorded. Several different contingencies between the emission of the interresponse time and reinforcement were examined. Both the rate of emission and the temporal distribution of the 1.0‐ to 2.0‐sec interresponse time varied as a function of the schedule on which it was reinforced. This finding, which suggests that an interresponse time behaves as other operants, has implications for the analysis of conventional reinforcement schedules in terms of the differential reinforcement of interresponse times.