Читать книгу The Behavior of Animals - Группа авторов - Страница 72

Ever since the psychologist Hull (1943) postulated a general drive, a recurring question in the study of motivation has been whether causal factors have general or specific effects. Does a hungry dog merely eat its food more quickly and accept less preferred foods more readily, or does it also attack a stranger more fiercely and copulate more vigorously? There is evidence to support either point of view, but common sense suggests that some causal factors are likely to have broad effects whereas others will have only limited effects. A man who is worried about difficulties at work may show exaggerated or even inappropriate responses in feeding, aggressive, and sexual situations. On the other hand, the same man will probably only drink an extra glass of water if he has lost more body fluid than usual on a warm dry day.

In general, any particular causal factor will most likely have both specific and general effects; which effects are more important will depend on the question of interest. For example, specific effects of causal factors are implied in Lorenz’s model of motivation. The model posits that the fluid in the reservoir is specific to the particular behavior pattern with which it is associated: Lorenz spoke about action-specific energy . On the other hand, the circadian clock will be seen to have an important influence on many behavior systems. I will examine specific and general effects of causal factors in some detail in the section on displacement activities.