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II \M)Hi 11 iK (ll I'HYSKH (l(, Y 



NF.l'ROI'HYSIOl.OGY III 



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in. 2. Continuous records of the drinking behavior of one 

 rat after different amounts of water deprivation, showing how 

 this type of consummately behavior tends to be an all-or- 

 nothing response with alternations of constant rates of drinking 

 and resting. From Stellar & Hill I 152).] 



measures ( 1 -,_> ). Rats lap water .11 I he a ins! a nt rate of 

 6 to 7 laps per sec, netting 0.004 to 0.005 cc P er ' a P- 

 The onl) thing that changes during drinking, and 

 as 1 function of deprivation, is the duration of bursts 

 of lapping and the length of pauses. At the outset of 

 drinking, lapping is steady lor .1 maximum of about 

 8 min. , then it is interrupted by a brief pause ( fig. 2 1. 

 As lime '_M"v 1 in, the liursis cil steady drinking decrease 

 in length and llie pauses increase. Observation shows 



thai the pauses are due to the interference of other 

 motivational tendencies with drinking: fatigue, 

 grooming, exploration, sleep. The weaker the thirst, 

 the mure readilv these other tendencies interlere and, 



therefore, the sooner and more frequent the pauses 

 and the "i eatei their length. 



The magnitude of the consummatory response is 

 determined l>\ the nature of the goal as well as the 

 amount oi deprivation. This is illustrated most clearl) 



in the case of specihe hunger tin sodium chloride. 



Here, the 1 lunt ol salt solution ingested .^ well as 



iln absolute amount of sodium chloride is a function 



ul tin 1 on< entration of the solution (see fig, ) 1 as well 

 .is the animal's salt deficit (55). 



The concept of consummatory behavior changes 

 considerably where the motivated behavior does not 

 involve ingestion. In sexual and maternal behavior, 

 for example, the consummatory response is often 

 specified as an "innate reflex pattern,' such as the 

 execution of the copulatory response or nest building, 

 retrieving and care of the young, for these are bio- 

 logically useful goal-directed patterns that presumably 

 lead to drive reduction or satiation. In the sexual be- 

 havior of the male rat, the consummatory response 

 is measured in terms of the latency and frequency of 

 mounting, pelvic thrusts, intromissions and ejacula- 

 tions. The strength of these responses is determined 

 by the concentration of sex hormones, the adequacy 

 of the stimulus animal and previous experience (14, 

 16). With the female rat, the acceptance of the male, 

 the degree of completeness of the pattern of lordosis, 

 rump elevation, tail deflection and ear wiggling, as 

 well as the latency and frequency of these responses 

 to the male serve to indicate the strength of consum- 

 mation (14, 16). In this case, hormonal concentra- 

 tion is critical. In maternal behavior, the frequency 

 and persistence of retrieving, the promptness in 

 moving a nest from a blast of cold or hot air, the com- 

 pleteness of nest building, etc., all are measures of tin- 

 strength of drive or consummation. The strength of 

 these responses is determined primarily by the stim- 

 lus provided by the young and, to some extent per- 

 haps, by hormones (18, 87). 



Specification of the consummatory response be- 

 comes still different in cases like the avoidance of 

 noxious stimuli, sleep, exploration, fighting, etc w here 

 a specific response pattern is often more difficult to de- 

 scribe. In fact, there is some question .is lo whether or 

 not it is possible to use the term consummatory be- 

 havior meaningfully where there is no ingestion. The 

 argument in favor of extending the concept is essen- 

 tially that Consummatory responses are the 'natural,' 

 adaptive, goal-directed responses of the animal, 

 not Critically dependent upon learning, although 

 modifiable by experience. However, as Miller (99) 

 has pointed mil, oilier measures of motivation do not 

 always give the same results .is the consilium. not v 

 incisures and, therefore, we must be careful not to 

 base (00 111. m v of our conclusions about the phv siolog) 

 of motivation on consilium. Hon incisures alone. 



Quite clearly, the different incisures get at different 

 facets "f motivation and probably will reveal differ- 

 ent aspects of the underlying physiology. Ibis does 



not detract, however, from the great value of the 

 consilium. ituiv behavior incisure 



