Question

mr. harrison gets paid once a month (at the end of the month) for the superb job of teaching g his students. his behavior is operating on a __________________ schedule of reinforcement
positive punishment
negative reinforcement
variable-interval
fixed-interval
fixed-ratio

Explanation:

• Positive punishment involves adding an aversive stimulus to decrease a behavior. Here, getting paid is a reinforcement, not a punishment, so this option is incorrect.
• Negative reinforcement is about removing an aversive stimulus to increase a behavior. But the scenario is about getting paid (a positive outcome), not removing something aversive, so this is wrong.
• Variable - interval schedule has reinforcement at unpredictable time intervals. Mr. Harrison is paid at the end of each month (a predictable time), so this is not variable - interval.
• Fixed - interval schedule provides reinforcement after a fixed time period. Since he is paid once a month (a fixed time), this fits.
• Fixed - ratio schedule is based on a fixed number of responses, not time. Since it's about time (monthly), this is incorrect.

Answer:

Fixed - Interval