Advances in the experimental analysis of behavior: Issues of choice behavior, comparative cognition, and human language

Abstract

As the opportunity to contact with related areas has increased, the study of the experimental analysis of behavior has experienced revolutionary changes. Some of the most active and important areas — studies of choice, comparative cognition, and human language — are reviewed to acquaint readers. Studies of CHOICE have linked to the molar theories of behavioral economics and behavioral ecology, which promoted research of choice by animals under uncertainty conditions. Further approach has been made to integrate the molar and molecular analyses on the basis of the ideas of behavior dynamics. COMPARATIVE COGNITION is a part of a larger field including cognitive science, behavioral neuroscience, and biological science. Recent developments, aided with a comparative perspective, made significant contributions to our understanding of the phylogeny and ontogeny of cognition. Advances in analysis of human behavior provided tools to study behavioral aspects of semantics, syntax, and pragmatics of HUMAN LANGUAGE. Using the paradigm of stimulus equivalence, the emergence of stimulus relations, stimulus-stimulus networks, hierarchical structure of verbal behavior, and other language-related behaviors have been investigated. Copyright © 1994, The Japanese Psychological Association. All rights reserved.