Question

Tristan wants to reinforce his pet pigeon's disc pecking so that the pigeon pecks the disc at a steady rate with no or very short pauses after each reinforcement. What would be the best schedule of reinforcement for Tristan to use to get this pattern of responding?

A) Variable Ratio Schedule of Reinforcement
B) Differential Reinforcement of Other Responding
C) Fixed Interval Schedule of Reinforcement
D) Fixed-Ratio-50 Schedule of Reinforcement

Answer 1

The best schedule of reinforcement for Tristan to use in order to reinforce his pet pigeon's disc pecking at a steady rate with no or very short pauses after each reinforcement would be a Variable Ratio Schedule of Reinforcement.

Step-by-step explanation:

The best schedule of reinforcement for Tristan to use in order to reinforce his pet pigeon's disc pecking at a steady rate with no or very short pauses after each reinforcement would be a Variable Ratio Schedule of Reinforcement.

In this schedule, the number of responses needed for a reward varies, making it the most powerful partial reinforcement schedule. An example of a variable ratio reinforcement schedule is a slot machine that rewards gamblers with money based on a variable number of responses.

This schedule would encourage the pigeon to peck the disc consistently without pausing for long periods.