Preference between fixed-interval and variable-interval schedules of reinforcement: Separate roles of temporal scaling and predictability

Abstract

Pigeons’ preference between fixed-interval and variable-interval schedules was examined using a concurrent-chains procedure. Responses to two concurrently available keys in the initial links of the concurrent chains occasionally produced terminal links where further responses were reinforced under either a fixed- or variable-interval schedule. In previous studies, preferences for the variable schedule with such a procedure have been interpreted as reflecting atemporal scaling process that heavily weights the shorter intervals in the variable schedule. The present experiment examined whetherpredictability, i.e., the presence of external stimuli correlated with the reinforcement interval, might also influence preference in such situations. When the two intervals in a variable schedule were made predictable by being associated with different key colors, preference for that schedule increased. This increase was reliable but small in magnitude and transient when initial-link responses only occasionally produced terminal links; it was large in magnitude when only one response in the initial link was required to produce the appropriate terminal-link schedule. The results suggest that preference between fixed and variable schedules may be influenced both by temporal scaling and to a lesser extent by predictability of the reinforcement intervals.