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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Behav Sci. 2018 Feb 10;22:90–95. doi: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.01.008

Figure 1. Motivational interpretation of sickness behavior.

Figure 1

In a situation of motivational competition, the resulting behavior depends on the relative strength of the incentives for each motivated behavior (A). For example, sickness behavior vs. maternal behavior in different temperature contingencies (B). Note that the higher the environmental contingencies for maternal behavior (6 vs. 24°C) the lower the behavioral manifestations of sickness. At 6°C sick lactating mice engage in fast pup retrieval and nest building while at 24°C they only engage in pup retrieval.