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PubMed1992

Continuous versus discrete dimensions of reinforcement schedules: An integrative analysis.

An approach to reinforcement-schedule contingencies is presented that accommodates continuous as well as discrete effective dimensions of responses and reinforcers. College students' wheel turning was reinforced by projected reading material according to four schedule contingencies that incorporated either a discontinuous (count) or continuous (duration) dimension of the response and the reinforcer. The contingencies arranged a 1:1 correspondence between (a) response count and consequent stimulus count, (b) response duration and stimulus count, (c) response count and stimulus duration, and (d) response duration and stimulus duration. Contingencies incorporating response count produced moderate to high rates of very short-duration responses. Contingencies incorporating response duration produced very low-rate, long-duration responding. The dimension of the reinforcer had minimal or no additional effect. We suggest that incorporating duration and other continuous dimensions into schedule contingencies may improve our understanding of both laboratory and nonlaboratory behavior.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1988

Stereotypic behavior of mentally retarded adults adjunctive to a positive reinforcement schedule.

Stereotypic behavior is one of the more common disturbed behaviors displayed by people who are developmentally disabled. This study evaluated the indirect effects on stereotypic frequency when the value of a concurrent fixed-interval reinforcement schedule for adaptive behavior was varied. Three profoundly mentally retarded adults performed a simple adaptive task reinforced under a fixed-interval schedule. The reinforcement schedule value was varied from fixed-interval 15 to 90, and 180 seconds after schedule control under each condition was demonstrated. The dependent measure was the frequency of stereotypic behavior. Stereotypic behavior increased in direct relation to the interval length. The theoretical and practical implications of treating stereotypies as an adjunctive behavior partially controlled by the reinforcement frequency for adaptive behaviors are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Operant behavior of rats under fixed-interval reinforcement schedules: a dynamical analysis via the extended return map.

The extended-return-map was employed to analyze the inter-response time data of operant experiments using fixed-interval schedules and food reinforcement. After intensive training over numerous sessions, rats gradually developed several types of temporal patterns of lever pressing behaviors, which were visualized through different patterns of data point distributions in the extended-return-map. Analyses with randomly shuffled data sets confirmed that these patterns depended on the sequential order of the inter-response time data, indicating that they reflected dynamics of the behavior. A procedure was developed to quantify the difference between patterns in the extended-return-maps, thus, enabling the comparison between sessions, and between animals. Simulations suggested that, in addition to the two-state break-and-burst responding, both multiple switches of behavioral states during the inter-reinforcement periods and the acceleration of lever pressing rate should be taken into consideration for the dynamics found in the data.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Operant conditioning of behavioral variability using a percentile reinforcement schedule.

The present investigation developed and tested a new percentile reinforcement schedule suited to study pattern variability, whose main feature was the relative dissociation it provided between the variability requirement defining criterional responses and overall probability of reinforcement. In a discrete-trials procedure, pigeons produced patterns of four pecks on two response keys. If the pattern emitted on the current trial differed from the N preceding patterns, reinforcement was delivered with probability mu. The schedule continuously adjusted the criterion N such that the probability of a criterional response, estimated from the subject's recent behavior, was always constant. In these circumstances, the criterion corresponded to an invariant percentile in the distribution of recent responses. Using a between-subjects design, Experiment 1 manipulated the variability requirement--the percentile--while keeping overall reinforcement probability constant. The degree of variability varied directly with the requirement. In addition, an inverse relationship existed between the requirement and within-group variance. Experiment 2 manipulated probability of reinforcement while maintaining the variability requirement constant. No consistent relationship was found between variability and reinforcement probability. A tentative hypothesis was advanced ascribing the operant conditioning of behavioral variability to a process of probability-dependent selection.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Some effects of reinforcement schedules in teaching picture names to retarded children.

The effects of several different schedules of primary reinforcement were compared in a picture-naming task with retarded children. In Experiment I, number of correct responses and learning rate were higher under fixed-ratio schedules than under continuous reinforcement. In Experiment II, number of correct responses and learning rate tended to be greater under in intermediate than under low or high fixed-ratio schedules. In Experiment III, number of correct responses was higher under interlocking schedules, in which the response requirement increased with time following the previous reinforcement, than under comparable fixed-ratio schedules. Learning rates were generally low and, perhaps because of this, not very different under the two types of schedules in this experiment. Accuracy (i.e., proportion of trials on which correct responses occurred) was typically high and insensitive to variations in schedule and schedule parameter throughout each experiment.

Attention↗
PubMed2000

Variable-time reinforcement schedules in the treatment of socially maintained problem behavior.

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) consists of delivering a reinforcer on a time-based schedule, independent of responding. Studies evaluating the effectiveness of NCR as treatment for problem behavior have used fixed-time (FT) schedules of reinforcement. In this study, the efficacy of NCR with variable-time (VT) schedules was evaluated by comparing the effects of VT and FT reinforcement schedules with 2 individuals who engaged in problem behavior maintained by positive reinforcement. Both FT and VT schedules were effective in reducing problem behavior. These findings suggest that VT schedules can be used to treat problem behavior maintained by social consequences.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1964

EFFECTS OF A DRL CONTINGENCY ADDED TO A FIXED-INTERVAL REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULE.

Following 30 days of reinforcement for the bar press response of two white rats on 30-sec fixed-interval (FI), a DRL component was added so that a minimal interresponse time (IRT) for the reinforced response, in addition to the FI variable, was necessary for reinforcement. Marked control over response rate by the superimposed DRL requirement was demonstrated by an inverse hyperbolic function as the DRL component was increased from 1 to 24 sec within the constant 30-sec FI interval. Interresponse time and post-reinforcement (post-S(R)) "break" distributions taken at one experimental point (DRL = 24 sec) suggested that a more precise temporal discrimination was initiated by an S(R) than by a response, since the relative frequency of a sequence of two reinforced responses appeared greater than that of a sequence of a non-reinforced response followed by a reinforced one. This latter finding was confirmed with new animals in a follow-up experiment employing a conventional 24-sec DRL schedule.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

ADDH and methylphenidate responders: effects on behavior controlled by complex reinforcement schedules.

One of the most effective treatments for children with Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity (ADDH) has been the prescription of methylphenidate (MPH). While laboratory-based evidence indicates that MPH effects may be rate-dependent, little is known about changes evinced in operant behavior controlled by complex reinforcement schedules. The present study examined the effects of several doses of MPH on the operant key-pressing behavior of 20 children with ADDH who were favorable responders to the drug. Following a drug-free training period, each child performed the task across all doses in a randomly assigned sequence under double-blind placebo control conditions. Rate-dependent effects were found for both high- and low-rate reinforcement schedules. The strength of these effects varied across dose. These results have implications for the nature of rate-dependent phenomena in humans and investigations of treatment parameters in the pharmacotherapy of children with ADDH.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗
PubMed2003

Variable-interval reinforcement schedule value influences responding following REM sleep deprivation.

The effects of rapid-eye movement sleep deprivation (REMSD) in rats were studied in relation to variable-interval (VI) reinforcement schedule value. Initially, lever pressing was maintained on a VI 30-s schedule of food pellet delivery. After a baseline was established, rats were repeatedly exposed to 96 hr of REMSD and control conditions of an equivalent duration. Responding decreased following REMSD but not after exposure to control conditions. Lever pressing was then maintained on a VI 15-s schedule of food pellet delivery and exposure to the REMSD and control conditions was repeated. Under this condition following repeated REMSD exposures, rates of lever pressing became similar to baseline responding. A VI 30-s schedule of food pellet delivery was then reinstated and REMSD and control conditions were repeated. Lever pressing following exposure to the REMSD condition decreased for 3 of 4 rats. Results suggest that VI schedule value influences the effects of REMSD on responding.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Too much reinforcement, too little behavior: assessing task interspersal procedures in conjunction with different reinforcement schedules with autistic children.

Task interspersal procedures have been quite effective in increasing autistic children's motivation to learn. These procedures have typically demonstrated that the inclusion of reinforced maintenance tasks (previously learned tasks) increases responding to new acquisition tasks because more reinforcers, in general, are available. However, studies have not specifically addressed the effects of various schedules of reinforcement, used in conjunction with task interspersal procedures, upon response acquisition. In the present study, a multiple baseline design across subjects was used to assess different reinforcement schedules. Five autistic children participated in learning sessions, during which trials of an acquisition task were interspersed with trials of three maintenance tasks. Correct responses to acquisition tasks were continuously reinforced throughout all conditions, while the reinforcement schedule for competent performance of maintenance tasks differed systematically. Results indicated that all children learned the new tasks when food reinforcers were presented only for acquisition tasks. Results are discussed in terms of behavioral contrast and improving the effectiveness of motivation-enhancing procedures for autistic children.

Attention↗
PubMed1982

Adjunctive behavior in children on fixed interval food reinforcement schedules.

Four female children (4 to 6 years of age) were tested on fixed interval (FI) 30-sec and 60-sec food schedule with M & M candy reinforcers. All four subjects displayed increased movement on the FI schedules as compared to appropriate FR 1 baseline conditions. Increased drinking was shown by three subjects, and increased vocalization by two subjects. These results clearly demonstrated schedule-induced behaviors in children with food reinforcement schedules which are typically used in animal experiments.U

Child↗
PubMed2005

Effects of reinforcement schedule on facilitation of operant extinction by chlordiazepoxide.

Learning and memory are central topics in behavioral neuroscience, and inbred mice strains are widely investigated. However, operant conditioning techniques are not as extensively used in this field as they should be, given the effectiveness of the methodology of the experimental analysis of behavior. In the present study, male C57B1/6 mice, widely used as background for transgenic studies, were trained to lever press on discrete-trial fixed-ratio 5 or fixed-interval (11 s or 31 s) schedules of food reinforcement and then exposed to 15 extinction sessions following vehicle or chlordiazepoxide injections (15 mg/kg i.p., administered either prior to all extinction sessions, or prior to the final 10 extinction sessions). Extinction of operant behavior was facilitated by drug administration following training on either schedule, but this facilitation only occurred once a number of extinction sessions had taken place. The extinction process proceeded more rapidly following fixed-interval training. Resistance to extinction was equally high following training with either schedule type, and was reduced by drug administration in both cases. These phenomena were evident in individual cumulative records and in analyses of group data. Results are interpreted in terms of phenomena of operant extinction identified in Skinner's (1938) Behavior of Organisms, and by behavioral momentum theory. These procedures could be used to extend the contribution of operant conditioning to contemporary behavioral neuroscience.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Choice performance in several concurrent key-peck treadle-press reinforcement schedules.

Five pigeons were exposed to several concurrent variable-interval food reinforcement schedules. For three subjects, one component of the schedule required a key-pecking response, the other a treadle-pressing response. For the other two subjects, both schedule components required treadle-pressing responses. The relative probability of reinforcement associated with the manipulanda was varied from 0 to 1.0 in 13 experimental conditions for the Key-Treadle subjects and nine conditions for the Treadle-Treadle subjects. The results indicated that the logarithms of relative time spent responding, and the logarithms of relative number of responses emitted on a manipulandum, approximated direct linear functions of logarithms of the relative frequencies of reinforcement associated with that manipulandum. No systematic bias in favor of time spent key pecking over time spent treadle pressing was apparent for the Key-Treadle subjects. All subjects exhibited undermatching, in that the ratios of time and response allocation at the alternatives systematically differed from the ratios of reinforcers obtained from the alternatives in the direction of indifference. Key pecking appeared to have no special link to food beyond treadle pressing or what would be expected on the basis of the reinforcement dependencies alone.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1962

Response latency as a function of reinforcement schedule.

Four Ss were trained to press and hold down a telegraph key in the presence of a light. Subsequent release of the key during a tone was followed by water reinforcement. The schedule of reinforcement for key release was varied, and its effects on the latency (RT) of key release to the tone were studied. Both median RT and variability of RT were found to be inversely related to frequency of reinforcement as determined by the schedule.

Learning↗