Intermittent Reinforcement

Don’t Be a Pussy Fact or Fiction…Oysters are an aphrod...

Intermittent Reinforcement

Seems like 100 years ago, I was sitting in my Psych 101 course listening to the professor talk about the various giants in the field of study. My father was an avid follower of Sigmund Freud, and my sister and I vehemently disagreed with most of his thoughts on the human psyche for a good reason. The man was a sexist pig (my words at the time as a young woman). I tended to gravitate toward Carl Rogers. My older sister, who was the very definition of an intellectual, preferred existential psychology. But of all the different philosophies, the experiments, and some of the things taught to me as a young adult, there is one I’ve never forgotten. BF Skinner and behavioral modification.

I’ll never forget the lesson on intermittent reinforcement and how powerful that is. Even more than consistency. In 1974 Stephen B Kendell conducted an experiment on pigeons. He found that pigeons under certain conditions might peck at a higher rate on a key that resulted in food intermittently versus a consistent reward of food. In 1957 BF Skinner also found that intermittent reinforcement tied to schedules is significantly more resistant to extinction than when continuous reinforcement is used. In other words, the rat or person will take longer to stop looking for that treat if presented with it on an intermittent basis versus every day or every week. I remember the professor talking about how wired college students in the dormitories were to check their mail every single day, even though no one ever received mail on a daily basis. Mail was kind of a big thing in the 70s. The possibility that today would be the day I got mail, kept me going back every single day to check. I’m guessing social media works in a similar fashion.

So what the hell does this have to do with writing? Well…in case you haven’t noticed, it’s been many months since I’ve put out a blog. Maybe this has created a certain percentage of extinction (folks don’t look for my blog on Fridays anymore). So…I have my work cut out for me to regain those readers. The advice I’ve been given before is if you’re going to do a blog or newsletter, be consistent. But maybe that isn’t true. Perhaps I don’t need to be consistent. Of course, that doesn’t mean I should goof off as long as I have been (three months is a long time). Perhaps readers will give me a little grace, and when I’m out of town, and it’s difficult to write my blog while relaxing on the beach, they won’t expect a blog. I’m hoping that is true and folks will be happy that I write one when I return. My wife agrees. She thinks I put far too much pressure on myself. Could this also be true of how many books I put out in a year?

Speaking of books, The Next Generation just came out (on pre-order) and will soon go live, plus the ebook should be out by the end of March. And, to make up for my absence with my blog and the last book I put out, Asset Management, the book that started it all, just came out in audible. So here’s my plea to all of you, I need a certain amount of intermittent or consistent positive reinforcement to keep me going. Selfishly, I’ll take the consistent reinforcement, which definitely has not happened (more than a few of my books have totally flopped!) However, since I’m still writing, I haven’t given up the pen yet, because of that intermittent reinforcement. The San Diego Series did okay, and I’m hoping the spin-off series, which is just as good will also do at least well enough to break even! Also, I need to keep my new narrator happy, and the only way to do that is to get the audibles she’ll be doing of the Asset Management series. She’ll need positive reinforcement to continue! I don’t have a Patreon account and won’t get one because that just isn’t me…so the way to support authors like me is to get the books and audibles. You know the drill, just click on the links below.