The Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition® publishes experimental and theoretical studies concerning all aspects of animal behavior processes. Studies of associative, nonassociative, cognitive, perceptual, and motivational processes are welcome.

The journal emphasizes empirical reports but may include specialized reviews appropriate to the journal's content area. The journal also publishes Brief Communications, typically based on a single experiment that reports a significant new empirical or theoretical contribution, perhaps involving a novel technique or analytical approach.