L'animal et la gestion du temps

This paper is an introduction to the experimental research on timing performance in animal subjects, conducted with operant methods. As such, it does not present the detailed state of the art and often refers to classical data, without neglecting contemporary research. A brief introduction delineates temporal regulations of behaviour with regard to chronobiology. It is followed by the description of FI, DRL and duration discrimination schedules. The next paragraphs concern inter-species comparisons, with an emphasis on the role of species-specific factors, the anagenetical perspective in comparative psychology and the quest for "pure timing" with the peak procedure which bears data congruent with Gibbon's scalar timing model. The last part of the paper successively discusses several hypotheses concerning the mechanisms of the hypothetical "internal clock", the relationship between acquired temporel regulations and chronobiology, and finally developmental factors in response timing. The conclusion pleads for the development of a comparative psychology of timing behaviour, to challenge and test models mostly built on the behaviour of the albino rat.