Partial (periodic) versus continuous reinforcement in resistance to extinction.
- 1 January 1950
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Psychological Association (APA) in Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology
- Vol. 43 (1) , 30-40
- https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054761
Abstract
Resistance to extinction after periodic reinforcement as compared with continuous or 100% reinforcement was detd. . With modified Skinner boxes, drops of water were availalble according to a time schedule with intervening responses unreinforced. Four squads of 8 albino rats, 70 days old, were used as subjects. 2400 continuous reinforcements produced only 100 responses during extinction, whereas 90 periodically administered reinforcements yielded 129 responses during extinction. Although periodically reinforced rats are statistically superior to continuously reinforced animals, in resistance to extinction, conditioning takes place more rapidly under continuous reinforcement.Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Extinction as a function of partial reinforcement and distribution of practice.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1949