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Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1992 May;57(3):267–287. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1992.57-267

Dynamics in the fine structure of schedule-controlled behavior.

W L Palya 1
PMCID: PMC1323230  PMID: 1602267

Abstract

The variability in the behavioral equilibrium established by six basic schedules was characterized. The measures were the pause preceding the first response in each interreinforcement interval; the mean rate of responding in each interreinforcement interval; and the relative frequency of each interresponse time. The temporal windows ranged across the 780-session exposure, across a session, and across the interreinforcement interval. A display of individual interresponse times as a function of time in the interreinforcement interval indicated clear recurrent responding at somewhat less than 3 Hz in every bird, even after extended exposure to a schedule and regardless of the contingency. No strong sequential dependencies in the interresponse-time distributions were identified. A simulator, based on a simple recurrent pulser, was presented that produced output similar to the obtained data. An archival data base of the behavior chronically maintained by the simple schedules was also generated.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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