An “allowable interval” for responding has been arbitrarily used in animal reaction time studies, having no empirical basis in systematic investigations of an animal's optimal response capability. The results of this research, in which negative reinforcement (low amperage shock) was used, indicate that the reaction time of the pre-adolescent chimpanzee in an experimental situation approximating that of routine laboratory performance testing is highly similar to that of man. In programming tasks, which involve single or multiple stimuli to which a discrete response must be made, suggestions are made concerning the allowable time interval for responding.
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