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Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1970 May;13(3):369–374. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1970.13-369

A comparison of variable-ratio and variable-interval schedules of reinforcement1

G E Zuriff
PMCID: PMC1333678  PMID: 16811450

Abstract

Four pigeons responded under a two-component multiple schedule of reinforcement. Responses were reinforced in one component under a variable-ratio schedule and in the other component under a variable-interval schedule. It was found that when rates of reinforcement were equal in the two components, the rate of response in the variable-ratio component was nearly twice that in the variable-interval component. Furthermore, for three of the four subjects, the function relating response rate to relative rate of reinforcement in the variable-ratio component had a slope 2.5 to 3 times the slope of the corresponding function for the variable-interval component.

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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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