Question

chapter 18- Interval schedules are prevalent in daily life. Explain what an interval schedule is, and provide examples from your life that fit this schedule. Does your behavior pattern match what an interval schedule should produce?

Answer 1

Interval schedule is a concept under operant conditioning. Interval schedule is a schedule of reinfocemnt where the reward is given after a behaviour after a certain amount of inetrval.

Interval schedule consists of two type of intervals

Fixed interval schedule - Where the behavior is rewarded after a fixed period of time

Variable interval schedule - Behavior is rewarded at a variable time and is not fixed.

Example of Variable Interval: I lead a team of researchers who constantly analyze data. I cannot check data in each a every report, so i just go to the researchers cabin and ask them to show me the report. The time or the schedule is not fixed, it is variable. i may go and check once in 3 days, or once in week or even once a month. In variable interval schedule, the reinforcement is unpredictable, which in this example, makes the researchers always cautious and they may be less likely to tamper data.

Example of Fixed Interval: When i started to work a burger king, i would be payed per hour. It did not matter how much work was done by me, as i was getting payed every hour. This affected my productivity towards my job, as i did not focus on doing my best, but instead spend long hours working.