Some Properties of Spaced Responding in Pigeons1
Year: 1965
Type: article
Abstract: Pigeons exposed to a schedule which reinforces interresponse times (IRTs) longer than a given value (DRL schedule) eventually reach a stable pattern of responding which is shown to be a function both of the DRL value and of previous experience with other DRL values. On any given DRL schedule, the stable performance of most pigeons which have been previously exposed to a variety of such schedules, shows an IRT distribution with median equal to the DRL value. For DRL values longer than about 30 sec, however, the median IRT falls short of the DRL value; this failure of adjustment to longer values appears to be a species characteristic of pigeons. The function relating reinforcement rate to 1/DRL value is also shown to be approximately linear over the same range, with variable slope (less than 45 degrees ) and a downturn in the vicinity of DRL 30.
Author: J. E. R. Staddon
Institution: Harvard University
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2009029560