consummatory response

the final response in a natural chain of behaviors directed toward achieving a goal. For example, eating (to reduce hunger) is the final act of the sequence of responses involved in foraging for food, and copulation (to reduce the sex drive) is the final act of sexual behavior. In 1918, U.S. ethologist Wallace Craig distinguished between consummatory behavior as an innate stereotyped activity and appetitive behavior as the active searching process that precedes it. Also called consummatory act; consummatory behavior. See also goal-directed behavior.

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Psychology term of the day

March 17th 2025

moving-window technique

in studies of reading, an experimental technique in which the words on a page are covered up except for a limited number that can be viewed through a “window,” which moves forward through the text at a set rate.