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One of the defining characteristics of advanced organisms is the ability to make flexible, yet adaptive responses to environmental stimuli. These stimuli may arise from within the organism or impinge upon it from the outside. The resulting myriad of stimuli ranges in salience from the barely noticeable to the intense. The stimuli in the intense range are usually considered to be biologically significant, whether they originate within the organism or are encountered in the outside environment.

At any given moment, the organism is likely to be faced with many stimuli that could be acted upon, but in reality only a few become the targets of behavior. Psychologists have conceptualized this process as a system of drives and rewards. The particular combination of stimuli that arises from the outside world and from the physiology of the organism triggers brain activity that has two major effects: It energizes behavior and directs behavior. For example, if an individual has gone for......

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Approximate Pages: 33 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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