Most wipers have a low and a high speed, as well as an intermittent setting.
When the wipers are on low and high speed, the motor runs continuously. But in the intermittent setting, the wipers stop momentarily between each wipe. There are many different kinds of switches for wipers. Some cars have just one intermittent speed, others have 10 discrete settings, and still others have a sliding scale that can be set for almost any time interval. Whatever kind of controls your car has, setting them just right can be tricky.