Chapman and Hall Animal Behaviour Series

Transcription

1 ANIMAL MOTIVATION

2 Chapman and Hall Animal Behaviour Series SERIES EDITORS D.M.Broom Colleen Macleod Professor of Animal Welfare, University of Cambridge, UK P.W. Colgan Professor of Biology and Psychology, Queen's University at Kingston, Canada Detailed studies of behaviour are important in many areas of physiology, psychology, zoology and agriculture. Each volume in this series will provide a concise and readable account of a topic of fundamental importance and current interest in animal behaviour, at a level appropriate for senior undergraduates and research workers. Many facets of the study of animal behaviour will be explored and the topics included will reflect the broad scope of the subject. The major areas to be covered will range from behavioural ecology and sociobiology to general behavioural mechanisms and physiological psychology. Each volume will provide a rigorous and balanced view of the subject although authors will be given the freedom to develop material in their own way.

3 ANIMAL MOTIVATION Patrick Colgan Professor of Biology and Psychology, Queen's University at Kingston, Canada London New York CHAPMAN AND HALL

4 First published in 1989 by Chapman and Hall Ltd 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Published in the USA by Chapman and Hall 29 West 35th Street, New York NY Patrick W. Colgan Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1989 Set in pt Bembo by Best-Set, Hong Kong ISBN-13: e-isbn-13: DOl: / This title is available in both hardbound and paperback editions. The paperback edition is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted, or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Colgan, Patrick Animal motivation. - (Chapman and Hall animal behaviour series). 1. Animals. Motivation I. Title 156'.38 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Colgan, Patrick W. Animal motivation/patrick Colgan. p. cm. - (Chapman and Hall animal behaviour series) Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Motivation in animals. I. Title. II. Series. QL781.3.C '1-dc19

5 Contents Priface Acknowledgements Vll IX 1 Introduction Tinbergen's framework The key processes Historical background of ethology and psychology The concepts of instinct and drive 6 2 Ethology of motivation Some behavioural concepts Ontogeny of feeding in chicks Motivation as a constraint on learning Combination of factors Interactions between motivational systems Quantitative models for motivational processes Cognitive approaches 63 3 Physiology of motivation Invertebrate systems Homeostasis Arousal and the reticular activating system in cats Hunger and brain lesions in rats Hormones and sexual drives in canaries and lizards Conclusions 98 4 Ecology of motivation Optimal behaviour Matching and maximizing Individual differences Hunger and foraging Signalling of intentions 123

6 Vl Overview References Author index Subject index Contents

7 Preface The topic of animal motivation deals with how and why animals engage in particular activities: what mechanisms inside the animal generate behaviour, how stimuli from the external environment influence these mechanisms, and how this behaviour is beneficial to the animal. The topic is thus central both to academic studies in psychology and zoology and to applied matters in domestic species. Motivation has not been an area of great emphasis in the past years but there is now a growing realization that it should receive greater attention. Drawing on concepts and observations from a number of areas, this book provides an overview of the motivational processes which determine the choices, timing, and sequencing which are characteristic of animal behaviour. Data and theory from ethology, psychology, and evolutionary biology are synthesized into a contemporary framework for analysing such central features of behaviour as persistence in activities and goal orientation. Principles of motivational analysis are discussed and illustrated with specific case studies. The successive chapters deal with ethological, physiological, and ecological approaches involving experimental work on a diversity of vertebrate and invertebrate species. Ethological topics include the interaction of external stimuli and internal states, mechanisms of choice, quantitative models of motivation, conflict between tendencies for different activities, and behavioural homeostasis. The review of physiological research focuses on hunger, the activating roles of nerves and hormones, and the examination of animals with small nervous systems. The ecology of motivation deals with such problems as the optimization of behaviour, especially foraging, individual differences in behaviour, and the motivation for social communication. Controversies surrounding cognitive ethology and concepts such as drive and instinct are also considered. Through this coverage are presented the dimensions of motivated behaviour, the proximate physiological mechanisms for this behaviour, and the functional importance of such behaviour to an animal in its natural setting. These aspects are illustrated with case studies, and likely avenues for future developments are outlined. The book

8 V111 Preface is intended to be broad yet succinct, without trying to be encyclopaedic, for upper-year undergraduates, postgraduate students, and teachers and researchers in animal psychology and behavioural biology.

9 Acknowledgements I am grateful to S. Crawford, R. Eikelboom, L. Gabora, C. Harris, J. Hogan, J. Morgan, H. Nogrady, L. Ratcliffe, M. Stayer, J. Sutcliffe, and J. Templeton for assistance with the literature and comments on the text. S. Crawford, J. Frame and L. Jamieson prepared the manuscript with skill and patience. Financial support was provided by an Operating Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Family and friends, especially Andrew and Jeffrey, were supportive in much-appreciated ways.