Using fixed-time schedules to maintain behavior: a preliminary investigation.

Two children with autism had just learned a simple task. The team wanted to know if the skill would stay alive when adult attention no longer came after every correct response.

They compared three fixed-time (FT) schedules. Dense gave a reinforcer every 30 s. Thin gave one every 60 s. Yoked matched the exact rate each child had earned before. Sessions alternated so the kids served as their own controls.

All three FT schedules kept the children working. Response levels stayed high under FT 30 s, FT 60 s, and the yoked plan. No version clearly beat the others.

In short, you can thin to once per minute and the new skill still holds.

Jarrold et al. (1994) saw a darker side of FT schedules. In their study, stereotypy popped up like extra popcorn when reinforcers arrived on a clock, yet self-injury did not. The two papers sit side-by-side: FT can maintain good behavior and also spark adjunctive quirks.

Meuret et al. (2001) tested FT in a lab task and found timing matters. When the FT rate differed a lot from the old baseline, arbitrary responding dropped fastest. Gabriels et al. (2001) show the flip side—keeping behavior, not cutting it—so the same tool works for opposite goals when you pick the right rate.

Mutchler et al. (2025) push the maintenance idea further. They showed that simply spacing follow-up sessions, even without extra reinforcement, helps typical adults keep a telehealth skill. Together the trio tells a story: after mastery, you have at least two levers—clocked reinforcers or spaced practice—to make learning stick.

You can stop delivering praise or tokens for every correct response once the learner masters the skill. Flip to an FT 30 s or FT 60 s schedule and the child keeps working while you free up time for other students. Watch for schedule-induced stereotypy; if it appears, shorten the interval or add response-based reinforcement. This quick thinning step prevents prompt dependency and makes maintenance part of the first teaching plan.