Pause relationships in multiple and chained fixed-ratio schedules.
Stimuli tell learners how soon reinforcement is coming—adjust those signals to control response latency.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Walker (1968) watched pigeons work on two fixed-ratio schedules in a row. Each schedule had its own colored key light.
The birds had to peck a set number of times to earn grain. The study asked: does the pause before each ratio grow or shrink when the color signals a richer or leaner payoff?
What they found
Longer pauses happened when the color meant a lower rate of grain. Shorter pauses came before the color that signaled faster grain.
The pause length tracked the relative payoff, not the absolute number of pecks required.
How this fits with other research
HERRNSTEISLOANE (1964) showed the same rule with secondary reinforcers: pigeons pecked for tokens at the same relative rate the tokens had once delivered grain. Together, the two papers show that any stimulus linked to payoff rate will control how hard or fast the bird works.
Ramer et al. (1977) added a twist: if the response-payoff link is very strong, the stimulus-payoff link matters less. This explains why you sometimes see flat pauses even when payoff rates differ—the response itself is already pulling its weight.
Parsons et al. (1981) stretched the idea into delay reduction: stimuli that shorten the wait to grain become stronger conditioned reinforcers and speed up observing. K’s pause rule and A’s observing rule are two sides of the same coin—both track how quickly reinforcement is coming.
Why it matters
When you chain tasks or use colored cues, remember the cue’s history, not just the work ahead. If a card has signaled lean reinforcement in the past, the learner may pause even when the current requirement is easy. Warm up that cue with denser payoff first, or swap it for a color that has signaled richer rates. You’ll cut the dead time before responding and keep momentum through the chain.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Put a brief rich-reinforcement burst on the first link of your chain to shorten the pause.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
On a multiple fixed-ratio 10 fixed-ratio 100 schedule, pigeons pause for relatively long periods of time before the fixed-ratio 100 schedule. Only a short pause occurs before the fixed-ratio 10 schedule. A chain fixed-ratio 10 fixed-ratio 100 schedule produces the reverse pattern, i.e., a short pause before the fixed-ratio 100 schedule and a long pause before the fixed-ratio 10 schedule. Procedurally, the only difference between the two schedules is that the fixed-ratio 10 component is always terminated by some unconditioned reinforcer in the multiple schedule but never in the chained schedule. In the present experiment, the percentage of fixed-ratio 10 components which included reinforcement was gradually decreased for birds on the multiple schedule and gradually increased for birds on the chained schedule. It was found that percentage reinforcement within the fixed-ratio 10 component was inversely related to the duration of the pause before the fixed-ratio 10 component and directly related to the duration of the pause before the fixed-ratio 100 component. Thus, the relative rate of reinforcement paired with a particular stimulus was seen to be an important factor in determining response latency to that stimulus.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 1968 · doi:10.1901/jeab.1968.11-117