NET, IAS, State-SET (KSET, WBSET, MPSET, etc.), GATE, CUET, Olympiads etc.: Reinforcement

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Continuous Reinforcement Schedule

It is a schedule of reinforcement in which every occurrence of a particular behaviour is reinforced. In other words, every correct response during acquisition is rewarded. Humphrey startled the scientific community by showing that the extinction process was more rapid following 100% reinforcement in comparison to the situation where the animals were reinforced intermittently/partially. In other words, the organism receives the reward each time it makes an appropriate response during the period of learning and is then placed on the extinction schedule, the organism is bought to lose the harmed response faster than the organism that had only certain percentage of correct responses rewarded. In other words, partial reinforcement leads to greater resistance to extinction than 100% reinforcement and this is called as partial reinforcement effect.

Partial Reinforcement Schedule

It is one wherein only some of the correct responses are rewarded. Before the animal is switched to the partial reinforcement schedule the animal is trained on a continuousreinforcement schedule. Partial reinforcement schedule is of two types

  1. Internal schedule.
  2. Ratio Schedule.

Internal Schedule It is set up in the terms of time elapsed from the delivery of the last reinforcement.

Ratio Schedule Reinforcement is contingent on the number of responses emitted by the subject as measured from the last reinforced response.