Intermittent reinforcement can raise resistance to extinction, and variable-ratio schedules typically sustain high response rates.
Skinner's variable-ratio schedules typically sustain high response rates and can raise resistance to extinction. No single schedule is universally the most extinction-resistant: resistance depends on reinforcement rate and amount, stimulus conditions, and how extinction is measured. The mechanism underlies gambling, loot boxes and refresh-driven feeds.
In practice
- Variable-ratio schedules typically sustain the highest response rates, though extinction resistance depends on more than the schedule alone.
- A refresh-to-update feed, a loot box and a slot machine are the same schedule, and all three were understood before any of them were built.
- Standing
- The mechanism underlying gambling, loot boxes, and refresh-driven feed design.
- Subject
- Psychology & Behavior
- Essay
- A century and a half of measuring the mind