Evolution of discrimination processes: Moment-to-moment selection of behavior by antecedent stimuli

Behavior has evolved to the point where environmental stimuli can guide or control the behavior of a single subject from moment to moment on very short time scales (a matter of seconds). The presentation will outline the ontogeny of how this process evolves in a given individual and what are the essential components in successful selection of behavior by antecedent stimuli. The presentation will to a large extent have empirical components based on Skinner's early research on the discriminated operant and subsequent research on discrimination methodology.