The gulf between behavioural psychology and fundamental physiology: a systematic attempt to bridge the gap

Abstract

Direct experimentation in much of this area is very difficult or impossible. For such circumstances, it is argued that much can be achieved by a rigorous quantitative programme of interdisciplinary theorizing based on available data. The paper then outlines progress arising from this approach from: (1) a Piagetian view of behaviour, through (2) a model for the "scheme" as a statistical population of discrete linear molecules (despite Hebb's synapse suggestions), down to (3) the physics and chemistry of signal emission, transmission and absorption. The latter analysis yields the surprising suggestion (corroborated by Cope's work) that a vital frequency-component for neural signals occurs in the infra-red range: about 10^13 cycles/second. This helps to explain several current mysteries concerning memory