VARYING RESPONSE‐REINFORCER CONTIGUITY IN A RECYCLING CONJUNCTIVE SCHEDULE

Three experiments describe the effects of manipulating the frequency of response‐reinforcer contiguity in a recycling conjunctive schedule. The schedule arranged that a reinforcer was delivered after 30 s provided at least one response had occurred; otherwise the next cycle started immediately. In Experiment 1, this schedule produced the typical pause‐respond‐pause pattern, with most responses at mid‐interval; and, when a limited number of contiguities between responses and food delivery were added, the pattern became more like the monotonic scallop seen on fixed‐interval schedules. In Experiment 2, the schedule was initially presented with an additional contingency that allowed contiguity on every trial. Fixed‐interval‐like behavior occurred and tended to persist as contiguities were gradually eliminated. In Experiment 3, the recycling conjunctive schedule alternated with a condition in which a large number of contiguities occurred. The pause‐respond‐pause pattern and fixed‐interval‐like performance occurred with few or many contiguities, respectively. The results of all three experiments illustrate how contiguity interacts with a small number of other variables to determine performance on interval schedules and illuminate previous findings with fixed‐interval and fixed‐time schedules.