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Related Experiment Videos

Uninstructed human responding: sensitivity to ratio and interval contingencies.

B A Matthews, E Shimoff, A C Catania

    Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
    |May 1, 1977
    PubMed
    Summary

    Human participants show sensitivity to reinforcement schedules when instructions are minimized. This study found that shaping key presses, rather than direct instruction, improved responsiveness to variable-ratio and variable-interval schedules.

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    Area of Science:

    • Behavioral Psychology
    • Operant Conditioning

    Background:

    • Human operant behavior is sensitive to reinforcement schedules.
    • Previous studies have shown mixed results regarding human sensitivity to these schedules.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To investigate human sensitivity to variable-ratio (VR) and variable-interval (VI) reinforcement schedules.
    • To determine the conditions under which human participants exhibit maximal sensitivity to schedule-controlled behavior.

    Main Methods:

    • College students' telegraph key presses were reinforced using VR and yoked VI schedules.
    • Key pressing was established through shaping, with minimal instructions about the key itself.
    • A second experiment examined uninstructed responding under fixed-interval (FI) contingencies.

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    Main Results:

    • VR key-pressing rates were higher than yoked VI rates, mirroring findings in infrahuman organisms.
    • Rapid schedule effects and rate reversals were observed within a single session for some participants.
    • Sensitivity to contingencies was less reliable when key pressing was demonstrated or reinforcement was automatic.

    Conclusions:

    • Human responding is maximally sensitive to schedule contingencies when instructions are minimized.
    • Shaping and requiring a consummatory response for reinforcement enhance sensitivity to operant schedules.
    • These findings clarify previous difficulties in demonstrating human schedule sensitivity.