Question

John wants to train his daughter to excuse herself before she leaves the table. Although he does not know how often he will reward her for excusing herself, he does know that he will not reward her every time she excuses herself. Which reinforcement schedule is John planning to use?

continuous
partial
primary
secondary

Answer 1

John is using a partial reinforcement schedule, which can either be variable ratio or variable interval depending on if the reward is based on a number of responses or varying time. This schedule is more resistant to extinction than continuous reinforcement.

Step-by-step explanation:

John is planning to use a partial reinforcement schedule to train his daughter to excuse herself before she leaves the table. Since he will not reward her every time she performs the desired behavior, but rather unpredictably, this type of reinforcement is known as a variable ratio or variable interval schedule, depending on whether the reinforcement is based on a varying number of responses or varying amounts of time. Unlike a continuous reinforcement schedule, where a behavior is rewarded every time, partial reinforcement schedules, such as the variable ratio or variable interval, are more resistant to extinction and encourage a steady rate of the desired behavior.