We study basic processes that are critical to understand human and non-human behavior: How do we perceive significant events in our environment? How do we remember them? How do we respond to them? How do they modulate motivation for certain activities? How do we learn to avert those activities when they are harmful in the long run? We examine the behavior of pigeons and rats to answer these questions and develop quantitative models of learning and cognitive processes. These are some of our projects:

• Timing (“time perception”): Analysis of error patterns in the discrimination, production, and reproduction of time intervals.

• Memory: Evaluation of the role of intervening events on recall of past stimuli and behavior, using variations of the delayed-matching-to-sample paradigm.

• Associative learning: Assessment of dynamic aspects of Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning.

• Self-control, inhibition, and waiting: Includes the study of temporal discounting (how rewards lose effectiveness as a function of delay) and behavioral inhibition using the smaller-sooner vs. larger-later paradigm, differential reinforcement of low rates (a waiting task), and animal versions of the Stop and Stroop tasks. Check the links on the left sidebar for more information.