Question

​If you wanted a rat in a Skinner box to respond with both a high and steady rate of responding, you should use which type of schedule of reinforcement?

Answer 1

Answer: 3. variable ratio

Options:

1. fixed interval

2. fixed ratio

3. variable ratio

4. variable interval

Explanation: The variable ratio of reinforcement uses rewards to create a high and steady rate of response. The rate of reward for a target behavior is unpredictable so the rat does not know when its response will get a reward. It will keep responding until the reward is delivered.

The options listed above are schedules of reinforcement. They are schedules used in rewarding target behavior in Operant conditioning.