Reinforcement schedules play a big role in how behaviors change. They tell us when and how a behavior gets rewarded. There are four main types of reinforcement schedules:

1. Continuous Reinforcement: Here, every time the right behavior happens, it gets a reward. This can help someone learn quickly, with an effectiveness of about 95%. But if the rewards stop, the learned behavior can fade away quickly.

2. Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement: In this case, the behavior only gets rewarded some of the time. There are different types of this schedule:

   • Fixed-Ratio (FR): You get a reward after doing a certain number of responses, like after every five times you do something (called FR5). Research shows that with FR schedules, people tend to respond at high rates, increasing their activity by about 50% compared to other schedules.
   • Variable-Ratio (VR): Here, you get a reward after an unpredictable number of responses, like after doing something anywhere from one to multiple times (called VR2). This method is very good at keeping behaviors going, with about 40% of behaviors still lasting over time.
   • Fixed-Interval (FI): In this type, you get a reward after a certain amount of time has passed, like after 2 minutes (called FI2min). You might see a pattern where people start to do the behavior more just before the reward is expected.
   • Variable-Interval (VI): This schedule gives rewards at unpredictable times, like after anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes (called VI3min). This method usually keeps behaviors steady and has lower chances (about 20% less) of fading away compared to the fixed-interval schedule.

By understanding these schedules, behaviorists can create better ways to reward behaviors.