Maintenance of responding under a fixed-interval schedule of electric shock-presentation

Abstract

Squirrel monkeys trained to respond under a schedule in which each response postponed the delivery of electric shock developed a steady rate of responding. When a schedule in which an electric shock was presented following the first response occurring after 10 minutes (10-minute fixed-interval schedule) was programed concurrently, there was little effect on the pattern of responding. When the shock-postponement schedule was eliminated, the fixed-interval schedule of shock-presentation maintained a pattern of positively accelerated responding that is characteristic of fixed-interval schedules of reinforcement.