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 in- fluence 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 10-15 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 motiva- tional 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,
phy- siological, 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 homeos-
tasis. The review of physiological research focuses on hunger, the
activating roles of nerves and hormones, and the examination of animals
with small nervous systems.
