Author Paul Kenyon
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Lorenz Hydraulic
Model of Motivation Author Paul Kenyon |
We know from everyday experience that the more motivated we are, the more responsive we are to stimuli in our environment. For example, if I am very hungry I am more likely to eat something that I am not particularly fond of, just to satisfy my hunger.
In this simulation you can explore how differences in motivation
affect behaviour in the presence of various stimuli.
More specifically, you will see how the courtship behaviour of male
fish is a function of:
This VRML simulation on this page is loosely based on a study of
courtship in male
guppies carried out by Baerends et al. (reference: Behaviour, 8,
249-334, 1955).
The results are used to explain several important theoretical ideas
from classical ethology:
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Lorenz' model describes the relationship between:
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Fixed action patterns
(FAPs) are relatively stereotyped behaviours (i.e.
they seem to run like clockwork) exhibited by all
members of a species under appropriate conditions.
FAPs are normally seen when an animal in an appropriate motivational
state is exposed to the appropriate external stimulus - this stimulus
was called a releaser or sign stimulus
by ethologists.
In this model male fish exhibit three different
FAPs. This collection of FAPs is called an ethogram.
One of your tasks will be to identify the three FAPs which make up the ethogram of male behaviour in the simulation.
However this task is not straightforward because the actual FAP exhibited by the male depends upon:
In the simulation the colour of the male's body reflects his internal motivation.
Later on you can explore the simulation to determine which male body colour denotes:
In the simulation, the behaviour and size of the female represents her releaser value:
The simulation allows you to determine which female behaviour acts as a :
for male courtship behaviour
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The coloured cones (green, orange and purple) represent sign stimuli or releasers. The cones differ in size and colour to reflect their relative strength. In this model there are three releasers of increasing potency:
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Task #1. When
you click on one of these cones several things happen in the
model.
Try to identify the three releasers (female behaviours) and determine their relative strength. |
Focus on the behaviour of male fish when they encounter females that differ in attractiveness.
I think you will find it easier to
explore the reactions of the fish by starting with the blue
fish and discovering how he reacts to each of the female
releaser stimuli. Record your results.
Then
observe and record the behaviour of the red and yellow
males.
Finally, rank order the motivation of the various males.Remember that
the more motivated an animal is, the more
likely he is to respond to a relatively weak stimulus.
You are now in a position to appreciate the law of heterogeneous
summation.
The law of heterogeneous summation
In this simulation you have seen how two very different (heterogeneous)
factors (male internal motivation) and external releasing stimuli add
together (summate) to influence behaviour; the
behaviour of the male fish is an example of the law of heterogeneous
summation in action.
Similar additive effects of stimuli have been observed in field
investigations of animal behaviour. One nice example is work by
Baerends and Kruijt demonstrating that egg retrieval by herring gulls
is a function of both egg colour and pattern; these variables obey the
law of heterogeneous summation. (reference: Stimulus selection. In
Constraints on Learning: Limitations and Predispositions, eds Hinde
& Stevenson-Hinde, 23-50,Academic Press, London,1973).
A web page describing these results is available (see Follow up activities).
This far we have not focussed on the mechanics of Lorenz's model - it
has been noisily flushing in the background. We can now turn our
attention to the various components of the 'toilet'.
In Lorenz's model motivation increases with the passage of time. This
motivation is specific for one type of behaviour (e.g. either feeding,
or fighting or sexual behaviour). This specific source of motivational
energy is called action specific energy. It is
represented by the accumulation of water in the blue reservoir. The
reservoir is filled by a tap. In the model on this page, the tap only
turns after the fish have exhibited courtship
behaviour.
Points to ponder:
The reason I did not make the tap turn continuously is that doing so
would place a burden on your computers ability to display the model -
animation eats processing cycles!
However Lorenz postulated that the reservoir was being continuousy
filled with water in order to expain a phenomenon which he called vacuum
activity.
Lorenz coined the term vacuum activity to describe behaviour which apparently occurs in the absence of any external stimulus. In the hydraulic model, action specific energy can accumulate to such a high level that the pressure of water in the reservoir is capable of pushing open the restraining valve. This causes water to flow into the trough, and out through holes in the floor that represent fixed action patterns. You can see this effect for yourself by clicking on the reservoir (the blue cube in the model). The cones representing sign stimuli disappear to emphasise that what happens next does not depend on their presence. Then the blue fish swim forward across the screen representing vacuum behaviour.
The innate releasing mechanism
When you activate the model:
Lorenz introduced the term innate releasing mechanism (IRM) to describe a central ( located somewhere in the brain) mechanism that handled the link between external stimulus, internal motivation and behavioural output. The scale pan, pulley, trough and outflow pipes in the model correspond to the IRM.
If you look closely you can see that the smallest releaser causes water to flow from one pipe whereas all three pipes are filled when the strongest sign stimulus is activated. This is actually a limitation of the way in which I have constructed the model. As it stands the toilet part of the simulation behaves in a way that corresponds to one colour of fish.
Point to ponder: Can you identify which coloured fish most closely resembles the actions of the hydraulic model?
An important feature of the model is that after the animal has engaged
in a particular behaviour (FAP) there is a period of time when they
less likely to respond even if the same stimulus is presented again -
behavioural quiescence.
This occurs because the reservoir has been drained of action specific energy.
In the simulation this is represented by having the cones (representing
sign stimuli) disappear as the reservoir is being refilled with water.
In fact the simulation simplifies the story somewhat. For example, if
the fish has just reponded to a weak sign stimulus and only a little
water has flowed into the trough, then it would respond if it was
presented with another stimulus.
Point to ponder: Can you predict what simuli would be responded to, and what behaviour the various fish would display?
Models and theortetical systems are useful because they organise
research findings and suggest further experiments. Models often help
reveal the principles underlying the organisation of behaviour. But
they do not necessarily tell us much about the actual brain mechanisms
involved.
Clearly the brain does not operate like a toilet - except in some
special circumstances! One of the most powerful criticisms of Lorenz's
model is that it does not include any mechanism for learning. There is
no way that the consequences of the animal's behaviour can feedback
into the system to influence subsequent behaviour.
Lorenz saw no need for it to include feedback. After all he was
interested in FAPs - behaviours which by definition do not change over
an animal's lifetime. We now know that FAPs do not always spring
fully-formed into the animal's behaviour. FAPs are subject to
modification during development.
But this is not a criticism of Lorenz, rather it is an illustration of
how Lorenz's ideas led to greater understanding. You have got to start
somewhere, and the journey will be a lot easier if the first steps are
taken by someone of Lorenz's stature.
Lorenz was not blind to the crude nature of his theoretical model.
In 1950 he wrote:
"This contraption is, of course, still a very crude
simplification of the real processes it is symbolizing, but experience
has taught us that even the crudest simplisms often prove a valuable
stimulus to investigation."
Nevertheless the model has now fallen out of favour because it proved impossible to locate structures in the brain where action specific energy accumulated within a reservoir or processes that functioned like the postulated IRM. In other
So what .....
Students often ask "So what has this got to do with human
behaviour?"
One answer is that Lorenz's model of motivation has been used as an
explanation of human aggression. You will recall from from an earlier section that:
"In Lorenz's model motivation increases with the passage of
time. This motivation is specific for one type of behaviour (e.g.
either feeding, or fighting or sexual behaviour). This specific source
of motivational energy is called action specific energy. It is
represented by the accumulation of water in the blue reservoir. "
According to this view the only way to reduce human aggression is to engage in aggressive behaviour. Furthermore there will come a time - according to the model - when aggressive behaviour will be exhibited in the absence of any provoking stimuli, so called vacuum activity.
You might wonder if this view was seriously held. Yes it was. In 1963 Lorenz published a book "On Aggression". It was republished in 1996 by Rouledge with a special introduction by Eric Salzen which is well worth reading. Salzen describes how the controversy raised by Lorenz's ideas culminated in 1986 when UNESCO and the American Psychological Association published a statement which was intended to:
".. dispel the widespread belief that human beings are inevitably disposed to war as a result of innate, biologically determined aggressive traits"
Draw a graph of the of the behaviour of the male fish in the simulation as a function of:
Compare the simulation results with those found by Baerends et al (1955) which are reproduced in many animal behaviour textbooks e.g.
These books give excellent accounts of classic ethological concepts and discoveries. Alcock provides an excellect insight into the research and thinking of contemporary behavioural biologists in his book Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach (6th Ed. Sinauer, 1998.)
You may wonder why I have based this teaching resource on such a heavily criticised set of concepts and theoretical model. The answer is that - from a teaching point of view - they provide fertile ground. This resource was designed for use with first year psychology undergraduates as part of module taught by a small team of lecturers who present views on a single topic from different perspectives (biological, behaviourist, cognitive etc.)
My aim is to gently expose students to:
At first I expect students to be confused by what is going on. That is
an intentional part of my strategy. I want students to begin to
appreciate
behavioural complexity and the problems of observation.
 You
may be
interested in visiting the SALMON Bookshop which is a
participant
in the Amazon Associates Program and offers books that
I
have carefully selected to
complement the material covered on this
website.I hope you find this a useful SALMON resource. Paul Kenyon |
