Schedules of Reinforcement
You get a paycheck every Tuesday.
What is fixed interval?
Homeowners who recycle get to deduct 5% from their utility bill. Recycling increases after this program
begins.
What is positive reinforcement?
A psychologist gives a rat a food pellet each time it pushes a lever in its cage.
What is fixed ratio?
A dog is banished to his doghouse after pooping on the living room carpet. The dog has fewer accidents after that.
What is positive punishment?
You go fishing to the Chesapeake Bay every weekend. Sometimes it takes 1 hour to catch a fish, sometimes 15 minutes, sometimes 45 minutes.
What is variable interval?
You clean up your side of the dorm room more regularly now to avoid your roommate's nagging.
What is negative reinforcement?
George works in a factory putting fenders on cars. He gets $100 for every 4 fenders he finishes.
What is fixed ratio?
After Jodi flirted with someone else at the party, her boyfriend stopped talking to her. Jodi didn't flirt at the
next party.
What is positive punishment?
You start playing the lottery. You win $10 the first time you play. You play 12 more times before you win again.
What is variable ratio?
The annoying child jumps up and down, hand raised, yelling "Me, me, me!" until the teacher calls on her.
The child jumps and yells even more in the future.
What is negative reinforcement?
Tom delivers newspapers in his neighborhood. Sometimes Mrs. Lewis pays her for 2 weeks at a time, sometimes she pays for 1 week, and sometimes she pays for a month.
What is variable interval?
A soccer player rolls her eyes at a teammate who delivered a bad pass; the teammate makes fewer errors after that.
What is positive punishment?
Every so often, you surprise your partner with something nice.
What is variable ratio?
A professor allows those students with A averages in the class to skip the final exam. Students work harder for As.
What is positive reinforcement?