Tolerable feedback: A mechanism for behavioural change

Abstract

A concept of motivational dominance is derived from a consideration of the state-space approach to motivation. A model is presented for the disinhibition of displacement activities during conflict situations. This occurs when the feedback discrepancy between the ‘actual’ and ‘expected’ consequences of performing an activity exceeds some tolerable limit. This limit varies as a precise function of the current motivational state of the animal, since each activity may be characterized by a particular ‘tolerable feedback curve’. Curve shape determines the extent to which different activities can be ‘squashed’ in situations of constraint. A single mechanism controlling the nature of the current expected feedback could underlie both competition and disinhibition. A system of dynamic internal measurement scales, represented by the complete set of theoretically determinable tolerable feedback curves, is able to incorporate both homeostatic and non-homeostatic activities.