Streams and patterns in behavior as challenges for future technologies

Abstract

How we divide and recombine processes that underlie integrated patterns of behavior represents one of the most fundamental problems in all behavioral science. Avenues of insight range from naturalistic observations to the most advanced technological advances in the recording and analysis of behavioral sequences. Members of the symposium on "Streams and Patterns in Behavior," Maastricht Conference on Measuring Behavior, offered important complementary approaches to issues that are common in all analyses of behavioral patterns, across time scales and levels of organization. Rodent grooming was emphasized as one model system, but contributors also offered insights on a range of issues relevant to our deeper understanding of exploration, emotions, consciousness, and human neurological disorders. © 2009 The Psychonomic Society, Inc.