1) Noncontinuous reinforcement. A schedule according to which not every response is reinforced. See entries listed under schedules of reinforcement.

2) Reinforcing some but not all responses or, in other words, reinforcing according to any schedule except continuous reinforcement or extinction. See specific schedules.

3) Reinforcement that does not follow every response. Only some responses are reinforced.

4) A reinforcer follows the response only once in awhile.

5) Intermittent reinforcement occurs when reinforcement is omitted following some emissions of an operant performance. The various ways in which reinforcement may be intermittent are varied in schedules of reinforcement.

6) A schedule of reinforcement in which some, but not all, of the occurrences of a response are reinforced.

7) A term that applies to schedules of reinforcement in which only some responses are reinforced; ratio and interval schedules are common examples. A person trained on an intermittent schedule of reinforcement will continue making a response during extinction for a longer period of time than a person trained on a continuous schedule. Intermittent reinforcement also produces more responding for fewer reinforcers, thus reducing the problem of satiation.