Operant Conditioning – Reinforcement Schedules

Need help preparing for the Psych/Soc section of the MCAT? MedSchoolCoach expert, Ken Tao, will teach everything you need to know about Operant Conditioning and Reinforcement Schedules for Associative Learning. Watch this video to get all the MCAT study tips you need to do well on the psychology section of the exam!

With operant conditioning, we present an animal with a stimulus in order to manipulate the frequency of a behavior. However, we don’t necessarily have to present the stimulus after every behavior. We could present a stimulus after different numbers of incidences of behavior or after a particular amount of time. Our decision of “when” to present a stimulus is a reinforcement schedule. There are different types of reinforcement schedules: fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, variable interval.

1. Fixed ratio: In a fixed ratio reinforcement schedule, reinforcement occurs after a fixed number of behavioral responses. For example, a rodent could be given a reward after every single lever press, or after every seventh lever press, or any number of lever presses.

2. Variable ratio: In this reinforcement schedule, stimuli are given after a variable number of behavioral response. The stimulus will be added after a behavior occurs, but there is no set number at which it will occur. For example, a casino slot machine will result in a win after an indeterminable and random number of attempts. This form of reinforcement schedule results in a high and consistent response rate.

3. Fixed interval: This reinforcement schedule is when reinforcement occurs after a fixed amount of time has elapsed. For example, we might train a rodent to press a lever. We might then decide to put a reward in the cage at the 5-minute mark, then at the 10-minute mark, then at the 15-minute mark, and so on every five minutes. The animal will be trained to perform the desired behavior on an interval.

4. Variable interval: Here, reinforcement will occur after a variable amount of time has passed. For example, we might reward a rodent after 3, 10, and then 27 minutes. This schedule will produce a moderate, steady response pattern.

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