Techniques for establishing schedules with wheel running as reinforcement in rats.
A few seconds of a favorite activity can keep operant behavior alive under ratio or interval schedules.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team used wheel running as the only reward for lever pressing in rats.
They slowly cut the running time to just 4-6 seconds per reinforcer.
Fixed-ratio, fixed-interval, and variable-ratio schedules were all tested.
What they found
Even at 4-6 seconds of wheel time, rats kept pressing.
All three schedule types held steady response rates.
Brief reinforcer access can still drive behavior under ratio and interval rules.
How this fits with other research
Iversen (1998) extends the same wheel-running reward to visual-discrimination tasks. Rats still learned fast, showing the reinforcer can power complex skills.
Kelley et al. (2023) mirrors the thinning idea in humans. Signaled NCR periods let clinicians cut free reinforcement fast without problem behavior.
Slocum et al. (2018) also thins NCR safely in kids with aggression. Together the three papers say: you can shrink reinforcer size or rate across species and settings if you signal the change.
Kocher et al. (2015) seems to clash. Their kids with autism mastered skills faster under continuous reward, not intermittent. The gap is task type: the rats worked for a favorite activity, the kids had to learn new academic tasks. Continuous reward speeds acquisition; intermittent keeps it going later.
Why it matters
You now know that even tiny sips of a strong reinforcer can maintain behavior. Start with generous access, then thin to brief moments once the response is steady. This saves time and keeps motivation high in both clinic and classroom.
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Join Free →After the learner masters the task, cut the reinforcer moment to 5 s and switch to FR-5 to test if responding holds.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
In three experiments, access to wheel running was contingent on lever pressing. In each experiment, the duration of access to running was reduced gradually to 4, 5, or 6 s, and the schedule parameters were expanded gradually. The sessions lasted 2 hr. In Experiment 1, a fixed-ratio 20 schedule controlled a typical break-and-run pattern of lever pressing that was maintained throughout the session for 3 rats. In Experiment 2, a fixed-interval schedule of 6 min maintained lever pressing throughout the session for 3 rats, and for 1 rat, the rate of lever pressing was positively accelerated between reinforcements. In Experiment 3, a variable-ratio schedule of 20 or 35 was in effect and maintained lever pressing at a very stable pace throughout the session for 2 of 3 rats; for 1 rat, lever pressing was maintained at an irregular rate. When the session duration was extended to successive 24-hr periods, with food and water accessible in Experiment 3, lever pressing settled into a periodic pattern occurring at a high rate at approximately the same time each day. In each experiment, the rats that developed the highest local rates of running during wheel access also maintained the most stable and highest rates of lever pressing.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 1993 · doi:10.1901/jeab.1993.60-219