Component duration effects in multiple schedules

Previous research has produced conflicting results regarding the effects of component duration on interactions in multiple schedules. In Experiment 1, potential sources of this conflict were evaluated. Both the effects of absolute reinforcement rate and carry-over effects (hysteresis) from a preceding condition were isolated. When 10-sec components were used, the sensitivity of relative response rate to relative reinforcement rate was affected very little by hysteresis effects and absolute reinforcement rate, but it was systematically reduced as a function of the number of prior conditions. Sensitivity to relative reinforcement rate was also substantially higher with the 10-sec components than with 2-min components. In Experiment 2, this effect of component duration was decomposed into two separate effects. Contrast effects during presentation of a target component with a constant reinforcement rate were greater the shorter the target component was itself; but they were smaller the shorter the alternative component in which reinforcement rate was varied. The latter effect was smaller and more unreliable across subjects. The existence of these two separate effects demonstrates that the usual method of studying component duration—that is, holding all components equal in duration—systematically causes underestimation of the effects of the component duration, and obscures the different processes controlling the two effects.