Josiah checks his text messages quite often throughout the day.Some days there is a text each time he checks; sometimes several hours go by with no new messages arriving.How is Josiah's behaviour of checking his messages being reinforced in this example

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Josiah's behaviour of checking his messages is being reinforced on a variable-interval schedule because the reinforcement (new text message) is given after an unpredictable amount of time has passed since the last reinforcement, which is when a new message arrived. This type of schedule tends to create consistent responding because the person will continue to check their messages in anticipation of a possible reinforcement, even if they don't know exactly when it will come.

Josiah Checks His Text Messages Quite Often Throughout the Day