"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
- Arthur Schopenhauer
The immediate cause of any behavior is either a pain or a sorrow. In other words, whenever a person or animal does anything at all, it is done for the purpose of ending some distressful feeling. This same distressful feeling is a result of prior contact with an object -- within or outside the organism -- that was physical [a thing] in the case of pain or mental [a thought] in the case of sorrow. The behavior for ending a pain involves either contacting a new/different thing or directly ejecting the thing responsible for the pain. Likewise, the behavior for ending a sorrow involves either contacting a new/different thought or directly ejecting the thought responsible for the sorrow. Contacting a new/different thing to end a pain also results in a feeling of pleasure. Contacting a new/different thought to end a sorrow also results in a feeling of joy. The final outcome in any case is quiescence -- until another distressful feeling is experienced by the organism.
A mammal's voluntary (as opposed to reflexive) behaviors occur in response to distressful feelings -- either physiological or psychological -- which themselves resulted from contact with harmful objects -- either physical or mental. In some instances, the mammal can directly eject the harmful object; in all other cases, the organism must indirectly eject the harmful object responsible for its distress by contacting an appropriate beneficial object. Contact with the beneficial object replaces the harmful object and thus terminates the mammal's feeling of distress; it also initiates a feeling of well-being -- either physiological or psychological -- which is followed by quiescence.
The motive for any behavior is a distressful feeling -- such as the feeling of hunger -- that is being experienced by the organism. The behavior -- such as eating food -- is performed by the organism with the intention of ending the distressful feeling. The motive for a behavior can also be thought of as the stimulus for a response, and so a behavior is sometimes said to be a response to a stimulus. Because the motive for any behavior is a distressful feeling motivating the behavior, the stimulus for any response is also a distressful feeling (and not some object in the environment, as is often claimed). Motives/stimuli, though, do come about through contact with distress-producing objects -- both in the environment and within the organism. These motives/stimuli are pains where the distress-producing objects are physical [things], and sorrows where the distress-producing objects are mental [thoughts].
[If you would like to read the basics of the theory in a Q&A format first , please click here.]
For decades psychologists had been calling for a global, comprehensive, or grand theory of psychology. For some it seemed to be the Holy Grail of psychology -- a goal unlikely ever to be reached but one worth pursuing just for its own sake. I can still recall D.O. Hebb, the "father of cognitive psychobiology", stating that a comprehensive understanding of behavior would not come about for a thousand years.
Well, a global theory of psychology now exists, and while it did take several decades to complete, that was nowhere close to a millenium. Behavior, learning, motivation, and emotion are now fully integrated. And they have been integrated in the only way possible, in that all the pieces of the puzzle fit together.
Now that we have such a theory, most psychologists are actually none too happy about it. In fact, it turns out that what we had been chasing is Tyrannosaurus Rex rather than the Holy Grail. If we psychologists welcome this beast with open arms, it will devour us -- by requiring that all psychology texts be rewritten, that all psychology professors be retrained, that all psychology curricula be restructured.... You get the idea.
[The unabridged theory is contained in Mammalian Behavior: The Theory and the Science (1990).]
A mammal -- except for one that is behaving reflexively -- often has some say in when it will behave; in other words, the organism can defer a particular behavior for a period of time. A mammal can even have something to say about how it will behave; for example, a hungry lion could hunt a zebra or hunt a buffalo. The fact remains, though, that a mammal must behave or else continue to experience the distressful feeling motivating that particular behavior.
As part of this motivational process, every mammal comes into periodic contact with a number of distress-producing objects. These objects are always either physical or mental, and most of them are contacted internally. Contact with distress-producing physical objects produces pain. Contact with distress-producing mental objects produces sorrow.
There are ten varieties of distressing physical objects and, hypothetically, seven varieties of distressing mental objects with which human beings and the lower animals come into recurring contact. These physical objects are known as things, while the mental objects are called thoughts. The contacts that a mammal makes with them are, as might be expected, either physical, in the case of things, or mental, in the case of thoughts.
An example of a pain-producing thing with which every mammal periodically comes into contact is the internal object(s)
responsible for the feeling of hunger. An example of a sorrow-producing thought with which a majority of mammals periodically comes into contact is what can be called the thought of rejection (or of being rejected), which is the mental object responsible for the sorrowful feeling of rejection/loneliness that regularly occurs in all social -- as opposed to solitary -- mammals and that motivates social intercourse.
These programmed (hardwired) pains and sorrows are the motivation for most -- although not all -- of a mammal's voluntary behaviors. [A voluntary behavior (as opposed to a reflex) can be defined as an attempt to eject (from further contact with the organism) an object that is either painful or sorrowful. In the case of reflexively-behaving organisms, behavior is an attempt to eject a physical object that is imminently dangerous as well as painful, such as the gnat in your eye that produces an automatic blink.] There are also voluntary behaviors that are not motivated by programmed contact with things or thoughts. These latter behaviors can be grouped into the following two classifications:
(I) behaviors motivated by contact with distress-producing objects not specifically intended for contact with the particular mammal [such as predators and porcupine needles] and,
(II) behaviors motivated by contact with thoughts of pain/sorrow from contact
with
(a) programmed distress-producing objects such as those responsible for the pain of hunger and the sorrow of rejection (loneliness) or
(b) randomly-appearing distress-producing objects such as predators and insults.
As we have now seen, the immediate motivation -- or motive/stimulus -- for any voluntary behavior can be conceptualized as a distressful feeling experienced by the mammal. Objects in the organism's environment are not stimuli -- as traditionally taught by psychologists -- but rather
(A) frustrating/harmful objects, which are to be avoided wherever possible,
(B) satisfying/beneficial objects, which are to be contacted, or
(C) neutral objects.
The response of a human being or an animal to a motive/stimulus is an attempt either to
(1) directly eject (from the body or the mind) the frustrating object (such as a porcupine needle) responsible for the stimulus, or to
(2) indirectly eject the frustrating object by contacting an appropriate satisfying object (such as a hamburger).
[With this latter response, contact with the satisfying object replaces contact with the frustrating object, terminates the feeling of distress that was being experienced, and brings about a feeling of well-being (satisfaction), which is pleasure in the case of contact with food and other such physical objects.]
A deer that has stepped on a porcupine needle will attempt to directly eject this frustrating object from its foot. A student that experiences the pain of hunger, however, cannot directly eject from her body the frustrating object(s) responsible for her hunger, nor can a deer that feels
rejected by other deer directly eject from its mind the frustrating thought responsible for its loneliness. In these latter two instances, the organism must indirectly eject the
frustrating object responsible for its distress -- in the one case by contacting (satisfying) food and in the other by contacting
a (satisfying) thought of acceptance (being accepted).
The response to a motive/stimulus, where the frustrating object responsible for the stimulus has no reference to another frustrating object, may be referred to as an ALPHA response.
If the frustrating object can be directly ejected (from either the body or the mind of the distressed organism), we speak of an Alpha Response I, which results in relief -- as when an animal manages to remove a porcupine needle from its foot. [See escape behavior]
If the frustrating object must be indirectly ejected by the organism by contacting a satisfying object, we speak of an Alpha Response II, which results in
reward, as when a hungry young woman eats a hamburger or a lonely young man is admitted to the frat house of his choice. [See reward/operant behavior]
A response to a motive/stimulus, where the frustrating object responsible for the stimulus is a thought of the pain or sorrow
that would result from contact with another frustrating (alpha) object, can be referred to as a BETA response.
If the distressing thought (frustrating object) responsible for the motive/stimulus can be directly ejected (from the mind), we speak of a Beta Response I, which results in no punishment;
an example of a Beta Response I would be where a buffalo, upon perceiving a lion in the distance,
directly ejects the thought of the feeling of pain from contact with a lion by avoiding the lion and, as a consequence, does not receive the 'punishment' that would have accompanied contact with the lion. [See avoidance behavior]
If the distressing thought (frustrating object) responsible for the motive/stimulus must be indirectly ejected by contacting a beneficial object, we speak of a Beta Response II, which results in no penalty for the organism; an example of a Beta Response II would be where
a squirrel that has come into contact with a
thought of the feeling of hunger from contact with the object(s) responsible for the feeling of hunger hoards nuts as a means of ejecting that frustrating thought via contact with the satisfying thought of hoarded nuts and, as a consequence, does not receive a 'penalty'. [See hoarding behavior]
[The penalty would have been the
absence -- equivalent to the removal -- of the hoarded nuts from the presence of the animal, as opposed to 'no penalty', which is the presence -- equivalent to no
removal -- of the nuts.]
All four response types that have been referred to thus far -- Alpha I, Alpha II, Beta I, and Beta II -- may be thought of as PRIMARY behaviors. A primary behavior
is defined as one that, when emitted, immediately results in termination of the motive/stimulus responsible for its emission.
There exists an even greater number of NON-PRIMARY behaviors. Some of these non-primary behaviors can be referred to as SECONDARY behaviors.
A secondary behavior is one that, when properly emitted, leads to emission of the appropriate primary behavior and, in this less immediate way, results in termination of the distressful feeling that stimulated
its emission.
Secondary behaviors include bar-pressing, hunting, planting, cooking, and opening a refrigerator. Thus, we see that a secondary behavior and the primary behavior to which its emission leads are both part of the total response to the same motive/stimulus.
A nonprimary behavior that is not a secondary behavior is essentially a useless behavior. It is a behavior that was intended to lead to a primary behavior but failed to do so. An example would be opening an empty refrigerator. A nonprimary behavior will not be emitted where the organism has come to accept the fact that its emission does not lead to emission of a primary behavior -- as when a rat in a cage has learned that running around the cage is not a secondary behavior leading to eating food, while barpressing is.
One organism can motivate the emission of a non-primary behavior by another organism by teaching the other organism that the non-primary behavior is a secondary behavior. This process occurs where a psychologist has taught a rat, through trial-and-error learning that bar-pressing leads to eating food.
In addition, an organism can, in effect, motivate the omission of a
non-primary behavior that is also a secondary behavior by either
(I) interfering with the other organism's motivation to emit the behavior or
(II) motivating the emission of a different behavior altogether that will occur in response to a more distressful feeling than the one responsible for the secondary behavior the omission of which is to be motivated.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the distressful feeling, or motive/stimulus, motivating the organism is not all that is required to ensure that a human being or animal behaves in a particular way. Emotion also comes into the picture.
For example, a hungry human being will not eat grass, although a cow, of course, will. The reason is that even a very hungry person has no DESIRE for grass.
Desire is one of the six emotions. The others are LOVE, HATE, FEAR, ANXIETY, and ANGER.
These emotions all ensure that behaviors, already motivated by motives/stimuli, will actually take place. This is their purpose.
We saw earlier that a stimulated mammal, in order to terminate its distressful feeling, must first terminate contact with the frustrating object responsible for that feeling. A hungry person must end contact with the frustrating (internal) things(s) causing the pain of hunger. A pained deer with a porcupine needle in its foot must end contact with that frustrating thing. A buffalo that senses a lion must end contact with the frustrating thought of the pain that an attacking lion would cause. And a squirrel thinking about the winter (like a person thinking of old age) must end contact with the frustrating thought of the pain of hunger in the future.
Two of these motivated organisms end contact with the object frustrating them by contacting a satisfying object. This process occurs when a hungry person contacts (is rewarded with) food and when a squirrel contacts the thought of hoarded nuts by actually hoarding a bunch of them.
The remaining two motivated organisms end contact with the frustrating objects motivating them by directly ejecting the particular object. This latter process occurs when a pained deer manages to eject a porcupine needle from its foot (escape from the needle, so to speak) and when a buffalo manages to eject the thought of pain from a lion by avoiding the lion.
The emotions that ensure termination of contact with a frustrating object through contact with a satisfying object are desire, love, and anxiety. Fear, hatred, and anger are the emotions that ensure direct termination of the frustrating object responsible for the stimulus.
Anger is an emotion that ensures an Alpha Response I, which results in relief, as when a circus animal removes (escapes from) the feeling of being dependent on, or controlled by, its trainer, by attacking that trainer. Desire and love are emotions that ensure Alpha Response II behaviors, which result in reward, as when a hungry young woman eats (is rewarded with) a hamburger or a lonely young man is accepted into the frat house of his choice. Fear and/or hatred ensure a Beta Response I, which results in no punishment, as when a fearful buffalo, perceiving a lion, directly ejects the thought of the feeling of pain from contact with that lion by avoiding the predator and, as a consequence, does not receive the
'punishment' that would have accompanied contact with a lion. And, finally, anxiety is the emotion that ensures a Beta Response II, which results in no penalty, as when a squirrel that has come into contact with a thought of the feeling of hunger from contact with the
object(s) responsible for its hunger
hoards nuts as a means of ejecting that frustrating thought and, as a consequence, does not receive the 'penalty' of going without food in the winter.
Your time spent here is appreciated.
John Philip Smith