EFFECT OF REINFORCEMENT MAGNITUDE UPON RESPONDING UNDER FIXED-RATIO SCHEDULES

Responding under fixed‐ratio schedules was studied as a function of two durations of food presentation. Latency of the first response after food presentation (post‐reinforcement pause) was consistently shorter when food was presented for the longer duration. Only one of the four pigeons studied showed a consistently higher response rate, exclusive of post‐reinforcement pause, as a function of the longer access to food. When ratio size was reduced, pause durations decreased, and the differences related to the two durations of food presentations became progressively smaller. 1969 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior