Question

You are watching a rat pressing a lever in a Skinner box to obtain food pellets. The rat is pressing the lever at a slow, steady rate, but it does not stop, even when a food pellet is delivered. In this example, the reinforcement schedule that is in place is most likely

Answer 1

It sounds like a VARIABLE INTERVAL schedule of reinforcement.

This is where we're given a reward, after a random amount of time has passed.

One example of this would be checking our e-mail.


When we receive e-mail, we consider it as a reward.
But we never know when we could receive e-mail, you know?

We could get a new e-mail after 7 days,
or we could get a new e-mail 10 minutes from now.
We never know when the next e-mail is going to arrive.

That's the reason for why people check their e-mail regularly.
They're looking for a reward -- e-mail.
But they never know when that reward is going to come.
So, they regularly check their e-mail.

And they don't do it QUICKLY, like every 10 seconds. You know?
They do it SLOWLY (like the question tells us.)
Most people only check their e-mail a few times a day.