CONTROL OF INDIVIDUAL BOUTS OF BEHAVIOR IN APLYSIA-FASCIATA - INTEGRATION OF FEEDING, REPRODUCTION, AND LOCOMOTION

Control of individual bouts of different behaviors was examined in Apl ysia fasciata, as part of a long-term project examining the principles underlying higher-order decision-making. Previous studies have shown that access to food and to mates affects the total time devoted to var ious behaviors. We examined whether these factors also affect either b out lengths or bout frequencies. Access to food inhibited mating, by d ecreasing both bout lengths and bout frequencies, while access to mate s increased feeding by increasing bout length. Bouts of mobility were affected in complex ways by access to food and mates: food had opposit e effects on bout lengths and bout frequencies, while mates decreased bout lengths.