The objective of this research is to integrate the study of learning and the study of the temporal and organizational control of behavior. We believe that the separation of these lines of research has retarded advances in both areas. Typical learning paradigms attempt to constrain other determinants of behavior control without understanding them, resulting in an oversimplified analysis of learned behavior. Among these constraints are the isolation of a short portion of the animal's circadian activity cycle in the from of an experimental session, the restriction of the reward response to that session, the disruption of its normal pattern of expression within the session, the schedule-based linkage of two previously independent responses, the assumption of perfect integration over time of the costs and benefits of alternative responses, and neglect of the complexity of behavioral change both inside and outside the experimental session. The strategy of the present research is to establish the patterns, periodicities, and co-occurrence of multiple behaviors in a free-baseline condition, and then use fixed time and response constraints and response-linkage to explore further both the nature of behavior control and its relation to learned behavior. The results should put in place a framework for developing a comprehensive theory of behavior and learning, one that can clarify a number of anomalous schedule effects, relate field and laboratory work, and facilitate connections with the study of ecology, development, and physiology.
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