Question

suppose you taught your dog to roll over for the reward of a dog biscuit. then one day you run out of dog biscuits. which schedule of reinforcement would keep your dog responding longer without a biscuit? negative reinforcement noncontingent reinforcement continuous reinforcement positive reinforcement partial (intermittent) reinforcement

Explanation:

Partial (intermittent) reinforcement means rewarding the behavior only some of the time. When reinforcement is intermittent, the subject (in this case, the dog) is less likely to stop the behavior immediately when reinforcement (the biscuit) is absent. Continuous reinforcement (rewarding every time) makes the subject expect a reward each time. If the reward stops, the behavior is likely to stop quickly. Negative reinforcement involves removing an aversive stimulus, which is not relevant here. Noncontingent reinforcement is not based on the behavior. Positive reinforcement is a general type (adding a pleasant stimulus like a biscuit), but the schedule (partial vs continuous etc.) matters more for resistance to extinction (continuing the behavior without reward). Partial reinforcement creates a pattern where the dog has experienced not getting a biscuit every time but still sometimes getting it. So when biscuits run out, it will take longer for the dog to stop responding (rolling over) as it's used to variability in reinforcement.

Answer:

Partial (intermittent) reinforcement