ARCH: A Proposed General Law of Behavior Across Species and Systems

Behavioral science lacks a unified framework capable of integrating innate neural programs,motivational states, and culturally acquired norms. The ARCH model—Behavior = Archetype× Drive × Culture—is proposed as a formal principle for understanding behavior across species.In this triadic equation, archetypes represent evolutionarily conserved neural scripts (e.g.,Warrior, Caregiver), drives reflect neuroendocrine motivations (e.g., testosterone, oxytocin), andculture denotes group-level norms that modulate behavioral expression. To evaluate the model’sexplanatory scope, this study analyzes behavioral data from five evolutionarily divergent species:chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber), vampire bats(Desmodus rotundus), European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), and juvenile rats (Rattusnorvegicus). Each species exhibits context-specific instantiations of the ARCH components—e.g., coalitionary aggression modulated by testosterone and ritual in chimpanzees, caregivingunder reproductive suppression in mole-rats, oxytocin-mediated altruism in vampire bats,sensorimotor entrainment in flocking starlings, and dopaminergic social play in rats. Despiteecological and phylogenetic differences, behavioral outcomes across taxa conform to thepredicted interaction of Archetype × Drive × Culture. The ARCH model offers a biologicallygrounded, cross-species framework with applications in neuroscience, psychiatry, artificialintelligence, and behavioral ecology. It advances the prospect of a unified science of behavior byintegrating evolution, physiology, and culture into a predictive equation.