Intermittent reinforcement of an interresponse time.

The team worked with rats in a small box. Every time a rat pressed the lever, the clock started. If the next press came between 1 and 2 seconds, the rat got food.

They kept this up for many sessions. They tracked how often the rats pressed and how long they waited between presses.

The rats quickly learned to wait about 1.5 seconds between presses. Their response rate shifted to match the 1–2 second window.

When the rule stopped, the timing drifted back. The study showed that the pause between responses is itself an operant unit you can reinforce.

Schwarz et al. (1970) saw that under fixed-interval schedules the sixth response after food lands at a steady pace. M et al. added a twist: they picked one slice of time and paid only for that, proving the slice can be sculpted at will.

Davison (1969) mapped a dip-peak pattern of interresponse times under fixed-ratio. M et al. show you can delete or build such patterns by reinforcing the exact pause you want.

Bowe et al. (1983) later used tight deadlines to speed human reaction times. This extends M et al.’s rat finding to people: temporal rules can fine-tune speed across species.

If you want a child to wait two seconds before asking again, or a learner to slow rapid stereotypy, reinforce the exact pause you like. Start by counting the current interresponse times, pick the window you want to see more of, and deliver praise or tokens only when the behavior lands inside that window. You can thin the schedule later; the timing will stick.