The role of the time dimension in the analysis of spontaneous behaviour

The reflex approach to the study of behaviour elaborated, thanks to the Pavlovian school, a successful style of experimentation. The study of spontaneous behaviour lacks such a sophisticated experimental paradigm. It seems that in the future paradigm the time dimension will play a decisive role as in physics. If the spontaneous behaviour is registered for a sufficiently long period and in sufficient details, i.e. if each action is exactly located in time, the analysis of time intervals reveals a typical, s.c. activational rhythm, which enables the prediction of spontaneous actions. Examples of the broad applicability of the hierarchical structure of the activational rhythm in animal studies and in human normal and abnormal behaviour are being presented.