A pigeon in operant chamber #1 regularly receives a pellet of food after every 10 pecks at a red disk, no matter how long it takes. A rat in operant chamber #2 regularly receives a pellet of food for the first bar press it makes after 10 minutes have passed, no matter how many bar presses it makes. The pigeon is on a _____ schedule of reinforcement, and the rat is on a _____ schedule of reinforcement.
A)fixed-ratio; fixed-interval
B)fixed-interval; fixed-ratio
C)fixed-ratio; variable-interval
D)fixed-ratio; variable-ratio

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The pigeon is receiving a pellet of food after a fixed number of responses (10 pecks), which is a fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement. The rat, on the other hand, is receiving a pellet of food after a fixed time period (10 minutes) has passed, irrespective of its behavior, which is a fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement.

A Pigeon in Operant Chamber #1 Regularly Receives a Pellet