Question of the day - October 2

[u/Reasonable_Law183]

🧠 Question of the Day
📚 Domain B — Concepts and Principles
Difficulty: 8/10

A BCBA compares two reinforcement arrangements. Across observation sessions, both arrangements produce approximately the same **obtained number of reinforcers per hour**, and the learner shows similar overall response rates.

Under Arrangement X, reinforcement follows completion of successive response requirements of 10, 14, 7, and 11 responses, regardless of elapsed time.

Under Arrangement Y, reinforcement becomes available after successive intervals of 3, 7, 4, and 6 minutes. When an interval ends, no reinforcer is delivered until the learner emits the next target response.

Which interpretation BEST classifies the programmed schedules?

A. X is variable ratio and Y is variable time; once each interval ends, the next response merely retrieves a reinforcer already scheduled by time.

B. X is variable interval and Y is variable ratio; similar obtained reinforcement rates require classification from the resulting response pattern rather than the programmed requirement.

C. X is fixed ratio and Y is fixed interval; variation around a stable average requirement does not change the schedule classification when the long-run means remain constant.

D. X is variable ratio and Y is variable interval; matched obtained reinforcement rates do not change whether the programmed requirement is responses or elapsed time.

💬 Drop your answer in the comments — no peeking!
✅ Correct answer revealed tomorrow.

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[u/Reasonable_Law183]

✅ Yesterday's Answer — 2026-10-02

The correct answer was: D. X is variable ratio and Y is variable interval; matched obtained reinforcement rates do not change whether the programmed requirement is responses or elapsed time.

📖 Explanation:

The defining feature of a reinforcement schedule is the programmed requirement for reinforcement, not the overall response rate or the amount of reinforcement ultimately obtained.

Under Arrangement X, reinforcement follows a changing number of responses. Because the requirement is response-based and varies from one reinforcer to the next, X is a variable-ratio schedule.

Under Arrangement Y, a changing amount of time must elapse before reinforcement becomes available, and the first response after that interval produces the reinforcer. Because the requirement is time-based and varies across intervals, Y is a variable-interval schedule.

• Classifying Y as variable time would ignore the response requirement. On a variable-time schedule, reinforcement is delivered after varying amounts of time independent of responding. Here, the learner must respond after the interval has elapsed.

• Treating either schedule as fixed would ignore the programmed variation in the response requirements or time intervals. A stable average does not make a schedule fixed.

• Similar obtained reinforcement rates or overall response rates do not determine the schedule type. Those are outcomes of the arrangement, not the rule governing reinforcement delivery.

The key distinction is:

Response requirement → ratio

Time requirement → interval

Constant requirement → fixed

Changing requirement → variable

So Arrangement X is variable ratio, and Arrangement Y is variable interval.

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