EFFECTIVE ADMINSTRATIVE OF REINFORCEMENT

By SUSHIL KAPOOR

1. To administer reinforcement effectively. Certain schedules of reinforcement are developed,

because when and how reinforcement is administered is significant. There are two major types
of Reinforcement Schedules, which are: (a) Continuous, and (b) Intermittent.

2. The types of reinforcement schedules are discussed as follows:-

(a) Continuous Reinforcement Schedule. In this schedule, reinforcement is

continuous, that is, every time desirable behavior is demonstrated, it is
encouraged or reinforced, so that the frequency of its demonstration increases. For
example, a certificate for every good presentation may be given.

(b)Intermittent Reinforcement Schedule. In this schedule, the acceptable or

desirable behavior is reinforced but not each and every time, because the
amount of reinforcement given once is often enough to make the behaviour worth
repeating. Figure 1 shows the further classification of intermittent reinforcement
schedules:-

Fixed-ratio
Ration
Schedules

Intermittent reinforcement schedule Variable-ratio

Fixed-interval

Interval schedules
Variable-interval

Figure 1: Types of Intermittent Reinforcement Schedules

3. The different types of intermittent reinforcement schedules are discussed as follows :-

(a) Fixed Interval Schedule. It’s when rewards are spaced at uniform or pre-fixed equal
time intervals. For example, the perform performance of an employee is assessed after
one year in an organisation, and based on this performance, rewards are provided to the
employee in the form of a monetary increment in salary or promotion. In such a case,
the employee tries to improve and maintain his/her performance throughout the period,
so that he/she can get better rewards.

(b) Variable Interval Schedule. If rewards are distributed in time, so that reinforcements
are unpredictable, the schedule is of the variable-interval type. This helps an
organisation to delight its employees and help in increasing their job satisfaction level.
For example, appreciation certificate in a year for any good performance.

(c) Fixed-ratio Schedule. In a fixed-ratio reinforcement schedule, rewards are initiated

after a fixed or constant number of responses. For example, in a manufacturing
 organisation, employees receive Rs 50 extra after producing every twelve boxes of
product.

(d) Variable-ratio Schedule. In the variable-ratio schedule, reward is provided to

employees after a varying number of responses instead of the fixed number of
responses. Mostly, the number of responses falls around a specific average in this
schedule type. This enables an organisation to encourage its employee for high
performance. For example, bonuses provided to the sales people at a call centre vary
widely. In this case, the sales people are unaware after how many successful sale
calls they will receive the bonus, but they know that if they keep completing their sales
calls successfully, they will receive the bonus. This encourages them to perform better at
a steady rate.

4. It is believed that variable schedules tend to lead to higher performances than fixed
schedules, because employees are not aware of the timing of the reward. Thus, they keep
performing better, because they do not want their performance to be low at the time when
rewards are provided. In contrast, variable interval schedules generate high rates of response
and more stable and consistent behaviour because of the uncertainty involved, that is,
employees tend to be more alert, because there is a surprise factor involved.