ABSTRACT
So far, we have restricted our discussion to examples of simple operant conditioning, where operant responses are continuously reinforced and every occurrence of the response is followed by delivery of the reinforcing stimulus, and examples of extinction, where that contingency is removed. If we change the conditions so that the reinforcing stimulus occurs only after some of the designated responses, we have defined the procedure of intermittent reinforcement. These procedures have great utility for generating stable, long-term baselines of learned behavior, against which effects of drugs, physiological manipulations, emotional stimuli, and motivational factors can be studied. The behavioral processes which generate stable behavior under intermittent reinforcement and some important applications will be introduced in this chapter.
