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But it has been argued that there are cases of motivation without flexible behavior. On this view, we are justified to ascribe motivational states to rats but not to flies. The feeding behavior of flies, on the other hand, is not flexible in this sense. Rats, for example, can learn to traverse through complicated mazes in order to satisfy their hunger. This flexibility involves goal-directed behavior that changes as the animal learns through new experiences. One approach is to define motivation in terms of the flexibility of the animal's behavior. One problem with defining motivation in terms of internal forces is that it is very difficult to measure them, which is why empirically-minded theorists often prefer definitions that are more closely linked to observable behavior. This is often linked to forces acting from within the agent that result in goal-directed behavior. The higher the degree, the more likely it is that the state has an influence on behavior. Motivational states come in various degrees of strength.
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Motivation is commonly defined as what explains why people or animals initiate, continue or terminate a certain behavior at a particular time.
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Motivation is what explains why people or animals initiate, continue or terminate a certain behavior at a particular time. For other uses, see Motivation (disambiguation).