A Variable Interval (VI) schedule of reinforcementReinforcement is a fundamental concept in Applied Behavior A... delivers reinforcement for a behaviorBehavior refers to any activity or action that living o... after an unpredictable amount of time has passed, but the intervals average out over time. The learner doesn’t know exactly when the next reinforcement will occur, which encourages consistent responding because reinforcement could happen at any moment.
Example
A teacher praises a student for staying on-task, but the praise is delivered at unpredictable intervals, such as after 5 minutes, 12 minutes, and then 8 minutes, averaging out to a 10-minute interval. The student is more likely to stay on-task consistently because they don’t know when the next praise (reinforcement) will happen.