Timberlake's behavior systems: A paradigm shift toward an ecological approach.

Timberlake's Behavior Systems model constitutes a discontinuity in theoretical and empirical consequences of traditional approaches to the experimental study of behavior, such as operant as well as classical conditioning. Here we consider the synergy of an animal-centered approach and acknowledge that niche-related behaviors as functional activities create synergy with Gibson's ecological approach, in at least three terms. These are: an ecological stance for learning and behavior, hierarchical organization of behavior systems, and affordances implied in the process of tuning experimental procedures. The ideas expressed herein favor a paradigm shift toward an ecological approach to behavioral science.