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?
A)Fixed interval
B)Variable interval
C)Fixed ratio
D)Variable ratio
E)Continuous reinforcement

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The description of significant pauses in responding after reinforcement, followed by a high rate of responding, is characteristic of a fixed interval schedule. In this schedule, reinforcement is available only after a specific amount of time has passed, leading to a pattern of pausing after reinforcement and then rapid responding as the time for the next reinforcement approaches.

You Are Watching a Rat Press a Bar in a Skinner