Fixed-interval reinforcement of running in a wheel.
Treat any repeated motion as a countable unit and you can put it on a fixed-interval schedule.
01Research in Context
What this study did
F and colleagues watched rats run in a wheel for food.
They asked: when does one response start and stop?
They picked wheel-spin as the unit because it has clear start and end points.
What they found
A wheel turn can be counted like a lever press.
The rat finishes one turn, gets a pellet after a set time, then runs again.
This gives a clean way to graph response rate on fixed-interval schedules.
How this fits with other research
Storm (2000) later used the same wheel set-up.
That study showed the matching-law numbers change if the schedule order changes.
So the clean unit F defined still holds, but the numbers are not fixed.
Davison (1992) offered a new math rule for variable-interval schedules.
Both papers are theory-only, yet they help you pick the right counter for any schedule.
Why it matters
Next time you track a hard-to-define behavior, borrow F’s trick.
Break the action into clear start-stop pieces you can tally.
Wheel turns, Lego clicks, or puzzle-piece snaps all work the same way.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The notion of "rate of responding" in the study of operant behavior presupposes a unit of behavior of which instances can be counted. Such operants as pressing a lever (rat), pecking a key (pigeon), or pulling a plunger (man) are fairly complex sequences of events, with an identifiable beginning and end. The rat reaches toward and grasps the lever, depresses it, allows it to rise, and releases it; or if it keeps hold of the lever, the response begins with depressing the lever and ends with permitting it to rise. In either case the rat is in approximately the same position before and after responding. The response is "phasic"; it can be repeated without engaging in other behavior, and instances can be counted. Changes in rate of responding can be studied.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 1958 · doi:10.1901/jeab.1958.1-371