Adjusting Cycles Per Hour sets how far the thermostat allows the room temperature to drop below the heat set point or raise above the cool set point before it enables the next heating or cooling cycle. Why? Because the longer it waits the less cycles will occur during that hour, and vise-versa, the short it waits more cycles occur during that hour.
The default deviation allowance is to start a heating cycle when the room temperature is 0.5°F below the heat set point and to start a cooling cycle when the room temperature is 0.5°F above the cool set point.