COMPOUND COMPLEMENTARITIES IN THE STUDY OF MOTIVATED BEHAVIOR

In his classic article, Stellar (1954) proposed that diverse motivated behaviors reflected the activity of excitatory and inhibitory centers in the hypothalamus. His specific and testable ideas provided the the oretical focus for a great deal of fruitful research on the biological bases of behavior for 2 decades. Subsequently, new findings and techn ical developments again changed the perspective and experimental appro aches in behavioral neuroscience. The authors suggest that the modem e mphasis on the anatomy and chemical function of neuronal systems has c ome at the expense of understanding the subcomponents of behavior and the hierarchical levels of integration involved in transforming reflex es into operant acts. Increased attention in the future to the infrast ructure of the behaviors being elucidated, when combined with reductio nistic studies of neurons, will fulfill the potential contribution to behavioral neuroscience that is implicit in Stellar's article.