UNITS OF INTERACTION, EVOLUTION, AND REPLICATION - ORGANIC AND BEHAVIORAL PARALLELS

Organic and behavioral evolution both involve variation, selection, an d replication with retention; but the individuals involved in these pr ocesses differ in the two kinds of evolution. In this paper, biologica l units of evolution, selection, and retention are compared with analo gous units at the behavioral level. In organic evolution, natural sele ction operates on variations among organisms within a species, with th e result of preserving in future generations of organisms those herita ble characteristics that contributed to the organism's survival and re production. Species evolve as characteristics of the population change as a result of past selection. Continuity in a lineage in the biosphe re is maintained by replication of genes with retention of organismic characteristics across successive generations of organisms. In behavio ral evolution, reinforcement operates on variations among responses wi thin an operant, with the result of preserving in future responses tho se characteristics that resulted in reinforcement. Continuity in a beh avioral lineage, within the repertoire of a given organism, appears to involve retention and replication, but the unit of retention and repl ication is unknown. We suggest that the locus of retention and replica tion is the nervous system of the behaving organism.