The effects of number of responses on the postreinforcement pause in fixed-interval schedules.
Extra blackout after early responses shortens the post-reinforcement pause on long FIs, but is useless on short ones.
01Research in Context
What this study did
When you run FI schedules with clients, remember that tiny delays after errors can speed up re-engagement, but only if the interval is already long. On short FIs, save your effort; the pause is set by the clock, not by added blackout. Try a brief timeout after early responses during a 5-min FI vigilance task and watch the break-and-run pattern tighten.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The present study manipulated the number of responses in a modified fixed-interval schedule by imposing a blackout after each unreinforced response during the interval. The blackout duration was varied, and the duration of the fixed interval was held constant. The subjects were initially exposed to a fixed-interval 300-sec schedule. Blackout durations of 0, 10, and 50 sec were used. Following this, a fixed-interval 30-sec schedule was used with blackout durations of 0, 1, and 5 sec. Under the fixed-interval 300-sec schedule, the number of interreinforcement responses varied over a wider range than occurred under the fixed-interval 30-sec schedule. The duration of the postreinforcement pause decreased as blackout durations were increased and number of responses decreased on the fixed-interval 300-sec schedule, but pause length did not vary with changes in blackout duration and number of responses for the fixed-interval 30-sec schedule. The differences in the effects of blackout duration and response manipulation on the two fixed-interval schedules were attributed to relatively greater changes in the number of interreinforcement responses for the fixed-interval 300-sec schedule.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 1979 · doi:10.1901/jeab.1979.31-253