Sequential patterns in post-reinforcement pauses on fixed-interval schedules of food

Abstract

Responding by one pigeon was reinforced with food on fixed-interval schedules of 30, 60, and 300 sec duration. A second pigeon was studied under fixed-interval durations of 60 and 300 sec. For both birds, the average post-reinforcement pause was one-half the duration of the fixed interval. Autocorrelation coefficients revealed first-order sequential dependencies in series of post-reinforcement pauses. On the 300-sec fixed-interval schedule, successive post-reinforcement tended to alternate between long and short durations. At the shorter fixed-interval durations there was less evidence of alternation sequences. A second experiment was conducted to determine if the time intervals between the first response after reinforcement and the next reinforcement (the work periods) were responsible for the alternation patterns in the series of post-reinforcement pauses. To evaluate the role of the work period, several procedures were used to modify the work period from that obtained on the fixed-interval 300-sec schedule. Adding a schedule to the fixed-interval schedule that set the minimum amount of time that could elapse between the first response after reinforcement and the next reinforcement eliminated the alternation pattern. Control schedules indicated that the elimination of alternation patterns resulted from constraints on the work period per se and not from confounded changes in the interreinforcement intervals.