You are watching a rat press a bar in a Skinner box. As you look at the cumulative record, you notice that there are significant pauses in responding after reinforcement is delivered. The pauses are flat. The rat does not respond at all for about 10 seconds, then he presses the bar at a very high rate. What kind of schedule is the rat being trained on?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The rat is being trained on a fixed interval schedule. This is because the rat is pausing for a significant amount of time after reinforcement is delivered, and then responding at a very high rate. This is a characteristic of fixed interval schedules.

You Are Watching a Rat Press a Bar in a Skinner