An Integrated Analysis of the Structure and Function of Behavior: Aging and the cost of • dividing attention*

Balic processes of operant conditioning arc studied most oftcn in thc animal laboratory, and the results have had important implications for the world of human affairs as well as for theories of behavior (Myerson and Hale, 1984). However, direct investigations with human subjects are not only desirable but also quite possible (Baron and Perone, 1982). The purpose of this chapter is to examine some complex instances of stimulus control as they have been revealed by the labQr~tory study of human behavior. Our discussion of stimulus control uses the language and concepts of behavioral (operant) psychology. But our analysis also draws heavily from two areas of inquiry more traditionally allied with cognitive theory. The first is that of divided attention. Although processes of attention have not been ignored completely in the study of opc;oant conditioning, the concept of attention plays a less vital role than in the study of information processing. The second area pertains to the psychological changes that accompany advancing age. With rare exception, investigations of the performance capabilites of older adults have been conducted within cognitive