On the first trial, the rat had to press the bar three times to get a pellet of food. On the second trial, the rat had to press the bar seven times. Although the number of presses necessary continued to vary from trial to trial, on the average the rat was reinforced for every five bar presses. The rat is on a _____ schedule of reinforcement.
A) fixed-interval
B) fixed-ratio
C) variable-ratio
D) variable-interval

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The fact that the number of presses necessary for reinforcement varies from trial to trial indicates that the rat is on a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement. The average of 5 presses between reinforcements also supports this conclusion.

On the First Trial, the Rat Had to Press the Bar