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In this book J. E. R. Staddon proposes an explanation of behavior that
lies between cognitive psychology, which seeks to explain it in terms
of mentalistic constructs, and cognitive neuroscience, which tries to
explain it in terms of the brain. Staddon suggests a new way to
understand the laws and causes of learning, based on the invention,
comparison, testing, and modification or rejection of parsimonious
real-time models for behavior. The models are neither physiological
nor cognitive: they are behavioristic. Staddon shows how simple
dynamic models can explain a surprising variety of animal and human
behavior, ranging from simple orientation, reflexes, and habituation
through feeding regulation, operant conditioning, spatial navigation,
stimulus generalization, and interval timing.
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