When is continuous reinforcement better

This reinforcement schedule is the quickest way to teach someone a behavior, and it is especially effective in training a new behavior. Now, each time he sits, you give him a treat. Timing is important here: you will be most successful if you present the reinforcer immediately after he sits, so that he can make an association between the target behavior sitting and the consequence getting a treat.

A fixed interval reinforcement schedule is when behavior is rewarded after a set amount of time. For example, June undergoes major surgery in a hospital. During recovery, she is expected to experience pain and will require prescription medications for pain relief. June is given an IV drip with a patient-controlled painkiller. Her doctor sets a limit: one dose per hour. June pushes a button when pain becomes difficult, and she receives a dose of medication. Since the reward pain relief only occurs on a fixed interval, there is no point in exhibiting the behavior when it will not be rewarded.

With a variable interval reinforcement schedule , the person or animal gets the reinforcement based on varying amounts of time, which are unpredictable. Say that Manuel is the manager at a fast-food restaurant.

Manuel never knows when the quality control person will show up, so he always tries to keep the restaurant clean and ensures that his employees provide prompt and courteous service. His productivity regarding prompt service and keeping a clean restaurant are steady because he wants his crew to earn the bonus. With a fixed ratio reinforcement schedule , there are a set number of responses that must occur before the behavior is rewarded.

Carla sells glasses at an eyeglass store, and she earns a commission every time she sells a pair of glasses. She always tries to sell people more pairs of glasses, including prescription sunglasses or a backup pair, so she can increase her commission. She does not care if the person really needs the prescription sunglasses, Carla just wants her bonus. This distinction in the quality of performance can help determine which reinforcement method is most appropriate for a particular situation.

Fixed ratios are better suited to optimize the quantity of output, whereas a fixed interval, in which the reward is not quantity based, can lead to a higher quality of output. In a variable ratio reinforcement schedule , the number of responses needed for a reward varies. This is the most powerful partial reinforcement schedule. An example of the variable ratio reinforcement schedule is gambling.

Imagine that Sarah—generally a smart, thrifty woman—visits Las Vegas for the first time. She is not a gambler, but out of curiosity she puts a quarter into the slot machine, and then another, and another. Non-intermittent schedules apply reinforcement, or no reinforcement at all, after each correct response while intermittent schedules apply reinforcers after some, but not all, correct responses.

A continuous reinforcement schedule CRF presents the reinforcer after every performance of the desired behavior. This schedule reinforces target behavior every single time it occurs, and is the quickest in teaching a new behavior. Continuous schedules of reinforcement are often used in animal training.

The trainer rewards the dog to teach it new tricks. When the dog does a new trick correctly, its behavior is reinforced every time by a treat positive reinforcement.

A continuous schedule also works well with very young children teaching them simple behaviors such as potty training.

Toddlers are given candies whenever they use the potty. Their behavior is reinforced every time they succeed and receive rewards. Once a new behavior is learned, trainers often turn to another type of schedule — partial or intermittent reinforcement schedule — to strengthen the new behavior. A partial or intermittent reinforcement schedule rewards desired behaviors occasionally, but not every single time.

Behavior intermittently reinforced by a partial schedule is usually stronger. It is more resistant to extinction more on this later. Therefore, after a new behavior is learned using a continuous schedule, an intermittent schedule is often applied to maintain or strengthen it.

Many different types of intermittent schedules are possible. The four major types of intermittent schedules commonly used are based on two different dimensions — time elapsed interval or the number of responses made ratio.

Each dimension can be categorized into either fixed or variable. Interval schedules reinforce targeted behavior after a certain amount of time has passed since the previous reinforcement.

A fixed interval schedule delivers a reward when a set amount of time has elapsed. This schedule usually trains subjects, person, animal or organism, to time the interval, slow down the response rate right after a reinforcement and then quickly increase towards the end of the interval.

Here, studying is the targeted behavior and the exam result is the reinforcement given after the final exam at the end of the semester. Because an exam only occurs at fixed intervals, usually at the end of a semester, many students do not pay attention to studying during the semester until the exam time comes. A variable interval schedule delivers the reinforcer after a variable amount of time interval has passed since the previous reinforcement. Students whose grades depend on the performance of pop quizzes throughout the semester study regularly instead of cramming at the end.

Students know the teacher will give pop quizzes throughout the year, but they cannot determine when it occurs. Without knowing the specific schedule, the student studies regularly throughout the entire time instead of postponing studying until the last minute.

Partial reinforcement schedules occur the most frequently in everyday life, and vary according to the number of responses rewarded fixed or variable or the time gap interval or ratio between response. Combinations of these four descriptors yield four kinds of partial reinforcement schedules: fixed-ratio, fixed-interval, variable-ratio and variable-interval.

In operant conditioning, a fixed interval schedule is when reinforcement is given to a desired response after specific predictable amount of time has passed. Such a schedule results in a tendency for organisms to increase the frequency of responses closer to the anticipated time of reinforcement. However, immediately after being reinforced, the frequency of responses decreases.

The fluctuation in response rates means that a fixed-interval schedule will produce a scalloped pattern refer to figure below rather than steady rates of responding.

An example of a fixed-interval schedule would be a teacher giving students a weekly quiz every Monday. Over the weekend, there is suddenly a flurry of studying for the quiz.

On Monday, the students take the quiz and are reinforced for studying positive reinforcement: receive a good grade; negative reinforcement: do not fail the quiz. For the next few days, they are likely to relax after finishing the stressful experience until the next quiz date draws too near for them to ignore. In operant conditioning, a variable interval schedule is when the reinforcement is provided after a random unpredictable amount of time has passes and following a specific behavior being performed.

This schedule produces a low, steady responding rate since organisms are unaware of the next time they will receive reinforcers. It is given a food pellet after varying time intervals ranging from minutes. It is given a pellet after 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 2 minutes, etc. It will respond steadily since it does not know when its behavior will be reinforced. In operant conditioning, a fixed-ratio schedule reinforces behavior after a specified number of correct responses.

This kind of schedule results in high, steady rates of responding. Organisms are persistent in responding because of the hope that the next response might be one needed to receive reinforcement.

This schedule is utilized in lottery games. They are likely to take a short break immediately after this reinforcement before they begin producing dresses again.

A variable ratio schedule is a schedule of reinforcement where a behavior is reinforced after a random number of responses. An example of a fixed-ratio schedule would be a child being given a candy for every pages of a book they read. For example, they are given a candy after reading 5 pages, then 3 pages, then 7 pages, then 8 pages, etc.

The unpredictable reinforcement motivates them to keep reading, even if they are not immediately reinforced after reading one page. Ratio schedules — those linked to number of responses — produce higher response rates compared to interval schedules. As well, variable schedules produce more consistent behavior than fixed schedules; unpredictability of reinforcement results in more consistent responses than predictable reinforcement Myers, Resistance to extinction refers to how long a behavior continues to be displayed even after it is no longer being reinforced.

A response high in resistance to extinction will take a longer time to become completely extinct. Different schedules of reinforcement produce different levels of resistance to extinction. In general, schedules that reinforce unpredictably are more resistant to extinction. Therefore, the variable-ratio schedule is more resistant to extinction than the fixed-ratio schedule.

The variable-interval schedule is more resistant to extinction than the fixed-interval schedule as long as the average intervals are similar. Out of the four types of partial reinforcement schedules, the variable-ratio is the schedule most resistant to extinction. This can help to explain addiction to gambling.

Even as gamblers may not receive reinforcers after a high number of responses, they remain hopeful that they will be reinforced soon. They have been able to study behavioral choice through the use of concurrent schedules. Through operating two separate schedules of reinforcement often both variable-interval schedules simultaneously, researchers are able to study how organisms allocate their behavior to the different options.

Research has found that individuals will try to choose behavior that will provide them with the largest reward. They prefer rewards that come sooner and requires less overall effort to receive. Schedules of reinforcement are used to evaluate preference and abuse potential for drugs.