Final answer:
The employee at a shoe store is paid based on a fixed ratio reinforcement schedule, which rewards after a set number of actions, such as the sale of shoes, have been completed. The correct answer is option B.
Step-by-step explanation:
The employee's paycheck in the scenario is based on a fixed ratio reinforcement schedule. A fixed ratio reinforcement schedule involves a set number of responses that must occur before a behavior is rewarded. In this case, the employee is paid for every pair of shoes sold, irrespective of the time taken to make those sales, indicating that the reward follows a fixed number of sales. Unlike a fixed interval schedule where reinforcement is provided after a set amount of time, or a variable schedule that entails unpredictable reinforcement patterns, the fixed ratio schedule provides consistent reinforcement after a certain number of actions (shoe sales) have been performed.
An example of the opposite, a variable interval reinforcement schedule, is where reinforcement follows varying and unpredictable amounts of time, such as the example of a restaurant manager receiving surprise quality checks and potential bonuses. This compares with the salesperson's situation where the reinforcement is explicit and directly tied to the number of sales, thus reinforcing the desired behavior of selling more units.