Temporal regularity and stimulus control in multiple fixed interval schedules

Area of Science:

• Behavioral science
• Animal behavior
• Cognitive psychology

Background:

• Environmental stimuli typically signal different time intervals in fixed interval schedules.
• Temporal performance can be influenced by training order, with intermixed versus blocked trials affecting stimulus control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how training conditions affect stimulus control in fixed interval schedules.
• To determine if temporal regularities across trials can override stimulus control.

Main Methods:

• Experiment I: Manipulated the number of consecutive trials of each fixed interval (FI) within training blocks.
• Experiment II: Varied the number of FIs trained.

Main Results:

• When trained in blocks of consecutive trials, temporal performance was controlled by temporal regularities across trials.
• Visual stimuli signaling the FIs did not control temporal performance under blocked training conditions.
• Temporal cues appeared to overshadow the visual stimuli.

Conclusions:

• Blocked training in fixed interval schedules leads to control by temporal regularities, not external stimuli.
• Temporal regularity is a dominant factor in controlling behavior in timing tasks, even across species.