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DEPENDENCY, TEMPORAL CONTIGUITY, AND RESPONSE‐INDEPENDENT REINFORCEMENT
Author(s) -
Sizemore O. J.,
Lattal Ken A.
Publication year - 1977
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.1977.27-119
Subject(s) - reinforcement , contiguity , schedule , variable (mathematics) , interval (graph theory) , statistics , computer science , psychology , mathematics , social psychology , mathematical analysis , combinatorics , operating system
A comparison was made of the effects of variable‐interval, variable‐time, and tandem variable‐interval fixed‐time schedules on key‐peck responding of pigeons. The variable‐interval component of the tandem schedule retained the response‐reinforcement dependency; the fixed‐time component allowed the temporal proximity between responding and reinforcement to vary, constrained only by the duration of the fixed‐time interval. Response rates were highest during the variable‐interval and lowest during the variable‐time schedule. Intermediate response rates occurred during the tandem schedule. The results of a yoked control condition showed that the effects of the tandem schedule were not due simply to changes in reinforcement distribution or frequency. The results suggest that substantial reductions in responding occur when reinforcement is response‐dependent but not necessarily contiguous with the response required to produce reinforcement.