Histories of Response Omission and Human Operant Behavior Under a Fixed-Ratio Schedule of Reinforcement

Abstract

In a series of experiments, it was shown that various histories of response omission can have suppressive effects on the operant responding of humans under a fixed-ratio (FR) schedule of reinforcement. Response omission was produced during these histories by making reinforcement contingent upon it, by reinforcing low rates of temporally spaced responding, by withdrawing reinforcement, or by introducing punishment for responding. Response suppression under FR varied with the number, type, and sequence of these response omission histories and was prevented when individuals were given an FR history in addition to a history of response omission. Extinction processes in moving from a history of response omission to FR contributed, in part, to the suppressive effects obtained under FR. Both normal humans and schizophrenics exhibited response suppression under FR following a history of response omission. The schizophrenics showed greater behavioral persistence and lower rates of FR responding than the normals. Normals given a history of response omission tended to perform like schizophrenics not given such a history. Taken together with previous research, the findings emphasize the importance of historical factors in human operant behavior and the role such factors may play in determining the behavioral differences of different people under schedules of reinforcement.