Marc Richelle (1930–2021) and the Study of Temporal Regulation of Behaviour in Animals

John H. Wearden

doi:10.5334/pb.1095

Abstract

This article discusses the contribution of Marc Richelle to the study of temporal regulation of behaviour in animals. Richelle was a pioneer of behavioural pharmacology in Europe in the 1960s, and some of his early pharmacological experiments, particular those involving chlordiazepoxide, are discussed. Richelle frequently tested drug effects on performance on fixed-interval (FI) and differential reinforcement of low rate (DRL) schedules. Much of his later work, conducted with Helga Lejeune, involved cross-species comparisons of performance on FI and DRL, and often focused on potential differences between “timing competence” and “timing performance”. His work provided an unrivalled body of research on operant behaviour in different species, involving research on animals as different as cats and fish. Much of the work was reviewed in Richelle and Lejeune’s 1980 book Time in Animal Behaviour, which contained particularly influential accounts of collateral behaviour and inter-species comparisons.

Highlights

This article discusses the contribution of Marc Richelle to the study of temporal regulation of behaviour in animals
The late Marc Richelle made many important contributions to Psychology, some of which are highlighted in a commemorative volume edited by Lejeune, Macar, and Pouthas (1995)
Temporal regulation refers to the fact that when animals are exposed to experimental arrangements involving temporal periodicities, or time requirements for reinforcement, their behaviour often adjusts so that its distribution in time adapts to the temporal features of the experimental situation

Summary

Introduction

This article discusses the contribution of Marc Richelle to the study of temporal regulation of behaviour in animals. In FI, there is no requirement that any particular pattern of responses be emitted but, after a few hours of exposure, animals of most species develop what Richelle (1972) called spontaneous temporal regulation of behaviour.

Results

Conclusion