Question

Casinos maximize the amount of money that people are willing to put into slot machines by making sure that the slot machines pay out jackpots on a reinforcement schedule that is the most resistant to behavior extinction. These machines use which reinforcement schedule?

A. Fixed-ratio
B. Variable-ratio
C. Variable-interval
D. Continuous

Answer 1

B. Variable-ratio

Step-by-step explanation:

In operant conditioning, there are four types of reinforcement schedules including fixed-ratio, fixed-interval, variable-ratio, and variable-interval.

Variable-ratio schedule: In psychology, the variable-ratio schedule is a reinforcement schedule in whereby a particular response is being reinforced after an uncertain number of responses and creates a high and steady rate of responding. Variable-ratio reinforcement schedule is most resistant to extinction.

Example: Lottery games and gambling.

In the question above, the machines use the variable-ratio reinforcement schedule.