The reinforcement of least-frequent interresponse times.

The team built a brand-new reinforcement schedule for pigeons.

They watched how long the bird waited between key pecks.

Whenever the bird gave a wait time that had been rare, they dropped grain.

They kept this up until the bird’s pauses formed a steady, predictable pattern.

The rare-wait schedule worked fast.

The birds settled into a smooth, exponential rhythm of peck-pause-peck.

The new baseline stayed stable, yet it still let the researchers tweak it later.

Shimp (1971) ran the same idea on two keys instead of one.

The pigeons again matched their wait times to where the grain was delivered, showing the effect holds across keys.

Davison et al. (1968) had already shown that local timing, not just grain rate, drives responding.

The 1966 study puts that rule into action by reinforcing the least-used wait, proving local control can be built into a schedule.

Palya (1992) later found that pigeons burst at about three pecks per second no matter the schedule.

Those tiny bursts sit inside the smooth exponential the 1966 paper created, linking micro-rhythm to macro-pattern.

You now have proof that reinforcing an uncommon wait time can sculpt steady, flexible response rates.

When you need a calm, even baseline—say, before teaching a new skill—program reinforcement for the child’s rare long pauses.

Start with short waits, then stretch.

The child’s responses will spread out while staying predictable, giving you a clean slate for the next teaching step.