Adaptive Regulation Model (ARM): A Neurobehavioral Framework for State-Dependent Behavioral Accessibility (HLTC Protocol)

The Adaptive Regulation Model (ARM) proposes that behavioral control is constrained by moment-to-moment regulatory capacity rather than by intention or executive choice alone. The framework describes a pre-behavioral processing window in which competing response tendencies are shaped by physiological load, temporal pressure, and available stabilization. As load increases, this window may narrow, biasing behavior toward rapid, previously reinforced responses and reducing access to goal-aligned alternatives. ARM uses changes in response latency, persistence, and error-correction to characterize threshold-like shifts between deliberate and automatic responding under pressure. Version 4 presents the High-Load Temporal Constraint (HLTC) protocol, an experimental paradigm intended to examine state-dependent behavioral accessibility in real time using synchronized bilateral motor engagement and controlled load escalation. In this approach, regulatory capacity is treated as an observable constraint condition under which rule-guided responding becomes less accessible in time to shape behavior. ARM is presented here as the micro-level lens of the broader Triplex Regulatory Framework (TRF), which integrates regulation across macro-, meso-, and micro-level dynamics. TRF uses a triplex organizing map that aligns these levels conceptually with trauma (macro), threat (meso), and reward (micro) influences to support systems-level interpretation without making clinical claims. ARM is offered as a falsifiable, measurement-oriented working paper intended to support interdisciplinary investigation of behavior under load; it is not presented as a diagnostic or treatment model.