Akademik

A procedural plan for a proposed objective, especially the sequence and time allotted for each item or operation required for its completion. [L. scheda, fr. scida, a strip of papyrus, leaf of paper]

- schedules of reinforcement in the psychology of conditioning, established procedures or sequences for reinforcing operant behavior; e.g., in a lever-pressing situation, every displacement of the lever will bring a pellet of food or comparable reinforcer (continuous reinforcement s.), or the reinforcer will come at every 5 seconds, regardless of how many displacements occur earlier (fixed-interval reinforcement s.), at every 10th displacement (fixed-ratio reinforcement s.), or on an average of every 5 seconds (variable-interval reinforcement s.), or the reinforcer will come in a noncontinuous fashion in which less than 100% of the displacements bring a reinforcer (intermittent reinforcement s.).

sched·ule 'skej-(.)ü(ə)l, 'skej-əl, Canad also 'shej-, Brit usu 'shed-(.)yü(ə)l n

1) a program or plan that indicates the sequence of each step or procedure <reinforcement \schedules used in conditioning experiments> esp REGIMEN <antibiotic \schedules for treating Lyme disease>

2) often cap an official list of drugs that are subject to the same legal controls and restrictions usu. used with a Roman numeral from I to V indicating decreasing potential for abuse or addiction <the Drug Enforcement Administration classifies heroin as a \schedule I drug while the tranquilizer chlordiazepoxide is on \schedule IV>

schedule vt, sched·uled; sched·ul·ing to place in a schedule <methadone and phenobarbital are scheduled substances>