The principal components of response strength.

The team looked at four common ways we measure learning: how fast the learner responds, how long they take to start, how often they respond, and how long they keep going when reinforcement stops.

They ran lab tests with reinforcement, satiation, and extinction to see if these four scores move together.

All four measures lined up under one hidden factor the authors call “response strength.”

Of the four, overall response rate was the cleanest single marker of that strength.

Staddon et al. (2002) built on this idea. They used math models to show how rate, probability, and latency could all spring from the same random process.

Storm (2000) looked at response-strength numbers too, but warned that the order of schedules can shift the values. The new study answers that worry: even if numbers drift, they still track the same underlying strength.

BOLLEHOFFMAN et al. (1964) showed earlier that latency drops after good reinforcement. The 2001 paper places that drop on the same ruler as rate and persistence, tying older data into one ruler.

If you need a quick read on how strong a skill is, just count responses per minute. You do not need fancy gear or extra forms. Rate gives you the same answer as longer extinction or latency tests, so you can decide faster whether to move to the next lesson or stay put.