Positive interaction (induction) in multiple variable-interval, differential-reinforcement-of-high-rate schedules.

Researchers worked with five pigeons in a two-part schedule.

In Part A the birds pecked for food on a simple variable-interval (VI) schedule.

In Part B the same birds also pecked, but now only fast pecks earned food (DRH).

The team watched whether the VI pecking sped up after DRH was added.

Four out of five birds pecked faster in the unchanged VI part once DRH began.

The higher rate in VI stayed high as long as DRH stayed in place.

This spill-over is called positive induction: reinforcing speed in one place lifts speed in another.

Weisman (1970) looks like the opposite result. That study used DRO instead of DRH and saw response rates drop. The two papers seem to clash, but the key is what you reinforce. Reinforcing high rates (DRH) pushes rates up everywhere; reinforcing any other behavior (DRO) pulls rates down. Same logic, different lever.

Mosk et al. (1984) backs the finding with a new twist. They gave bigger grain piles for bigger response bursts and still saw overall rate rise, a conceptual echo of the 1972 induction effect.

Cooper (1997) stretches the idea further. By reinforcing simple key switches, birds produced more varied sequences without being told to. Again, reinforcing one dimension quietly reshapes another.

If you run two programs in one session, speeding up reinforcement in one can accidentally accelerate behavior in the other. Watch for this when you add a DRH or high-rate game to a child's day. If the untouched program suddenly gets livelier, induction may be at work. You can use it on purpose to boost low-rate skills, or guard against it when steady, slow responding is the goal.