Psychology Concepts of Psychology Theories Essay

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It may be necessary to start with continuous conditioning and gradually increase the fixed number of responses necessary for a reinforcer to be delivered. The nature of this schedule "produces a high rate of responding, with a pause after the reinforcer is delivered" (Hockenbury, 2003, p. 219), and then another burst of responses.

With a variable-ratio schedule, responses follow a steady pattern, with few pauses after the reinforcer is delivered. Here, reinforcement follows an average number of responses that is varied between trials (Hockenbury, 2003, p. 219). A participant may need to respond 25 times in one trial to receive reinforcement, whereas the second trial will require 20 responses for the delivered reinforcer. While each trial is unpredictable, more trials bring the ratio of response to reinforcement to a predetermined average (Hockenbury, 2003, p. 219).

Interval schedules use time to determine the delivery of the reinforcer. With a fixed-interval schedule, reinforcement comes after a fixed time interval elapses after the first response. Using this schedule produces a pattern of increased responses as time for the next reinforcer gets closer. Once the reinforcer is delivered, responses tend to drop off until the end of the fixed interval again draws near (Hockenbury, 2003, p. 219).

Lastly, on a variable-interval schedule, a reinforcer is delivered after a certain amount of time after the first response, yet this time is an average and varies from trial to trial.

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This schedule is unpredictable, yet more trials produce an average time interval. The pattern formed from this type of schedule is a moderate and steady rate of responses. Since reinforcement is unpredictable due to the varied time intervals, the belief that the delivery of a reinforcer might occur produces a steady rate of responses (Hockenbury, 2003, p. 219).

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Hockenbury, D., & Hockenbury, S. (2003). Psychology. New York, NY: Worth.

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Ormond, J.E. (1999).….....

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