#Variable Reinforcement

There's a behavioral study out there on [reinforcement](https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html#sch) where three different boxes each had a pigeon and a button.

* The pigeon in the first box got a treat every time they pressed the button.
* The pigeon in the second box got a treat every second time they pressed the button.
* The pigeon in the third box essentially got a dice roll not guaranteeing a treat every time they pressed the button.

After a while, the buttons were disabled.

* The pigeon in the first box realized after around two pecks that the button didn't work anymore, and stopped.
* The pigeon in the second box took slightly longer to stop.
* The pigeon in the third box *never stopped pecking*.

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#Communication

I feel like I have an extreme amount of patience and tolerance when I know the approximate time someone will communicate, it's been consistent the past couple times, and the contents of the communication are worth the wait. I can even push my FP out of my head about as easily as I can push out a school project, both depending on how close it is to the "deadline".

However, things seem to spiral the moment that the communications lose consistency. 

* At first we go "hey, everyone misses one every once and a while".
* Our patience for missed replies depends on the expected length between them, like with the second pigeon. 
* I've very curious if after long enough consistent communication, we would give up a lot more easily after the person stops responding. 
* If they eventually respond, but not at the right time, and they don't step back into the previous consistency, then your patience immediately drops like a brick.
* Then if they stop responding we continue to "peck the button" like our lives depend on it and take a long time to stop.

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#Applying This to Help Symptoms

**The Introverted Stalker Way:** Type up all their response speeds by day and time into a spreadsheet to get a basic idea of their schedule and when to expect fast replies, when to expect slow ones, and when to expect none at all. 

**The Extroverted Stalker Way:** Ask them what they've done or how they've felt today or this week or however you want to do it, and repeat a few times until you get a similar overview. 

**The Robot Way:** Tell them you have a tight schedule or something and have specific timeslots for contacting them.

**The Functional Person Way:** Stop relying on texting so much you idiot. Make plans with them to call or meet up. 

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#TL;DR - We're animals and we need training or we'll start shitting everything.