Effect of Number of Eating Responses at Reinforcement on Fixed-Ratio Behavior

Fixed-ratio (FR) size was increased for pigeons (N = 6), while the number of eating responses at reinforcement was either held constant or increased. Also, FR size was held constant while the number of eating responses at reinforcement was increased. Major findings were as follows: (a) when eating responses were held constant, higher FR requirements led to stable key rates and postreinforcement pauses; (b) allowing more eating responses at successively higher FR requirements led to stable key rates and postreinforcement pauses;