Extinction of Observing Behavior

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Abstract
The probability of observing-key responses for pigeons trained to observe during a mixed-fixed ratio 50 fixed-interval 2-min. schedule of reinforcement decreased sharply when only the mixed schedule or the corresponding multiple schedule was programmed. First session observing-key response probability values were greater in the mixed-schedule condition, suggesting that the mixed-schedule stimulus set the occasion for pecking the observing-key following reinforcement offset. In the mixed-schedule condition, the results for one bird suggested that stimuli associated with the early portion of each component controlled a relatively high response-rate; and, when the component was fixed-interval, stimuli arising from the organism's behavior controlled a pause which followed more than 50 responses. This post-response pause contributed to the determination of a relatively low response-rate in the fixed-interval component of the mixed-schedule.

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