A conjunctive schedule of reinforcement.
Reinforcement can require both a time wait and a response count at the same moment.
01Research in Context
What this study did
HERRNSTEIN et al. (1958) wrote a theory paper. They asked, 'What if one reinforcer needs two things at once?'
They drew a new schedule. The animal must wait a set time AND hit a set number of responses. They called it conjunctive FI FR.
What they found
The paper gave no data. It only defined the schedule and said it could exist.
How this fits with other research
Lea (1976) later ran the first real test. Rats worked under the same two-part rule. Moderate FR add-ons made pauses longer and runs faster. Big FRs broke the pattern.
Rapport et al. (1982) moved the test to humans. College students showed three clear FI styles. Low-rate students earned more food when the FR was added. The theory held across species.
SIDMAELLIOTT et al. (1962) looked similar but used a chained FI FR. In a chain, the two parts happen one after the other. In the conjunctive, both rules apply at the same time. Same parts, different wiring.
Why it matters
You now have a name for 'wait AND count' programs you already write. Token boards with a timer and a response goal are conjunctive schedules. Start small on the ratio side; too big a number can shut the client down, just like the rats in Lea (1976).
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
In a fixed-interval schedule, the event that programs the reinforcement of a response is the passage of a specified period of time without reinforcement. Rein- forcement on a fixed-ratio schedule depends upon the occurrence of some fixed number of unreinforced responses.4 The conjunctive fixed-interval, fixed-ratio schedule combines these two schedules by arranging that a response is reinforced only after the passage of the time period and the emission of some minimal number of unreinforced responses.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 1958 · doi:10.1901/jeab.1958.1-15