Effects of different delay of reinforcement procedures on variable-interval responding.

Two experiments studied responding in the rat when the first bar press after a variable period of time produced a cue light that remained on for either 10, 30, or 100 sec and terminated with the delivery of food. In Experiment I, response rate decreased and time to the first response after reinforcement increased as the delay of reinforcement increased. Similar results were obtained whether the delay consisted of retracting the lever during the delay, a fixed delay with no scheduled consequence for responding, or every response during the delay restarted the delay interval. In Experiment II, fixed-delay and fixed-interval schedules of the same duration during the delay period had no differential effect on either response rate or time to the first response after reinforcement, but differentially controlled responding during the delay periods.