Types of responding in a signal-detection task.

Brinton et al. (1996) watched pigeons in a signal-detection task. Birds pecked left or right when lights looked bright or dim.

The team paid more grain for one choice, then switched the payoff. They timed how fast each peck happened.

Fast pecks followed the money. When the richer side changed, quick birds leaned that way more.

Slow birds stayed almost neutral. Their pecks still earned grain, but bias barely moved.

Discrimination stayed the same for both speeds. Only bias, not accuracy, felt the payoff swing.

Gentry et al. (1980) first showed payoff shifts bias without hurting sensitivity. The new twist: speed decides how big the swing is.

Malouff et al. (1985) found bias rules change when stimuli are tough to tell apart. B et al. keep stimuli easy and add response speed as a second lever.

LeBlanc et al. (2003) later linked richer pay to stronger accuracy and tougher-to-disrupt performance. Together the story is: payoff rate touches both bias and accuracy, but speed controls how much bias moves.

When you reinforce a correct response, watch how fast the learner acts. Quick answers may swing hard if you shift rewards. Slow answers might need bigger payoff changes or extra prompts. Track latency in your data sheets; it can explain why one child follows the new contingency and another does not.