title: Some conceptual problems with the classical theory of behaviour.
abstract: Behaviour is usually assumed to depend on the reach of a critical intensity--termed reactivity threshold--by its motivation. This view represents a simple, predictive theoretical framework in ethology and animal psychology. However, it is here argued that only the influence of an isolated motivation on behaviour can be explained that way; that such a view fails to account for behaviour when several motivations are jointly activated. Upon analysis, the classical theory of behaviour (CTB) proves to be under-specified and thus leads to three conceptual problems that make it logically inconsistent for the study of multiple motivations. A revision of the CTB, called anticipatory dynamics model (ADM), is then developed in order to bring a theoretical solution to these conceptual problems. The ADM hypothesizes that an organism's motivational interactions are due to the limitation of the organism's attentional resources.
authors.affiliation: University of Liège, Cognitive Science Department (B 32), 5 Boulevard du Rectorat, B 4000 Liège, Belgium. panselme@ulg.ac.be
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anselme
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000502:physiology; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008032:Limbic System / Q000502:physiology; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009042:Motivation; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D011582:Psychological Theory