The contribution of an added counter to a fixed-ratio schedule.

Hart et al. (1980) asked a simple question: does showing the bird how many pecks it has left help or hurt?

They worked with pigeons on a fixed-ratio 50 schedule. Half the sessions gave the bird a small counter that lit up after every fifth peck. The other half had no counter.

They timed how long the bird waited after food before starting again (post-reinforcement pause) and how fast it pecked once it started (running rate).

The counter made the birds wait longer. Pauses grew by about one-third, but the speed of pecking stayed the same.

In plain words, the visible counter did not speed the job up; it only stretched the break time.

Halpern et al. (1966) already showed that bigger FR numbers make pauses longer. B et al. add a twist: even when the ratio stays at 50, simply showing progress makes the pause act like the ratio got bigger.

Arnett (1972) found a similar pause stretch when pigeons saw a response-dependent clock under fixed-interval schedules. Together these studies say extra cues that mark progress can slow the start, not the run.

Gettinger (1993) later proved that the pause, not the run, drives most schedule effects. B et al. foreshadow this by splitting the two measures and showing the counter only touches the pause.

If you give learners a visual progress bar, token board, or click counter, expect a longer wait before they begin, not faster work. Use this when you want calm, steady starts. If latency matters more than run speed, keep the counter. If you need quick starts, drop the counter or add a ready signal.