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Pigeons responded for food on a multiple schedule in which periods of green‐key illumination alternated with periods of red‐key illumination. When behavior had stabilized with a variable‐interval 2‐min schedule of reinforcement operating during both stimuli, low rates of responding (interresponse times greater than 2 sec) were differentially reinforced during the green component. Conditions during the red stimulus were unchanged. Response rates during the green component fell without changing the frequency of reinforcement but there were no unequivocal contrast effects during the red stimulus. The frequency of reinforcement during the green component was then reduced by changing to a variable‐interval 8‐min schedule without reducing the response rates in that component, which were held at a low level by the spacing requirement. Again, the conditions during the red stimulus were unchanged but response rates during that stimulus increased. These results show that reductions in reinforcement frequency, independently of response rate, can produce interactions in multiple schedules.

In several different experiments, pigeons were trained with one schedule or condition of food reinforcement for pecking in the presence of one key color, and a different schedule or condition in the presence of a second key color. After responding in both of these multiple schedule components stabilized, response‐independent food was presented during dark‐key periods between components, and the rates of pecking in both schedule components decreased. The decrease in responding relative to baseline depended on the frequency, magnitude, delay, or response‐rate contingencies of reinforcement prevailing in that component. When reinforcement was terminated, decreases in responding relative to baseline rates were ordered in the same way as with response‐independent food. The relations between component response rates were power functions. Internal consistencies in the data, in conjunction with parallel findings in the literature, suggest that the concept of response strength summarizes the effects of diverse procedures, where response strength is identified with relative resistance to change. The exponent of the power function relating response rates may provide the basis for scaling response strength.

Three behavioral options were available to food‐deprived pigeons: (1) pecking one key resulted in food reinforcement according to a 50‐response progressive‐ratio schedule, (2) pecking a second key reset the progressive‐ratio schedule to the initial progressive‐ratio step, and (3) pecking a third key produced a 3‐min timeout period. Pecks on the reset key were shocked. Under low and intermediate shock intensities, timeouts were not produced; Final Acceptance under high shock levels, timeouts were produced regularly. Timeouts occurred during the initial period of a progressive‐ratio step and were more frequent during the longer steps of the progressive‐ratio schedule. Response‐produced timeouts under these experimental conditions could be interpreted either as an escape from aversive behavioral options or as a low‐probability behavior emerging when the food reinforcement schedule exerted weaker control.

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The effects of reward and cost token procedures on the social and academic behavior of two groups of elementary special‐education students were assessed using a reversal design. Behavioral observations of three target subjects in each group revealed that both procedures were about equally effective in reducing rule violations and off‐task behavior. Records kept on the daily arithmetic performance of all subjects showed that output doubled in both groups during the token phases, although accuracy remained unchanged. When students were allowed to choose either contingency, no pattern of preference was established. Small differences were found in teacher behavior: the reward procedure led to an increase in approval comments but cost procedures produced no changes in teacher behavior.

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