Drive-reduction theory accepts and glorifies drives as the only possible influencers of human behavior; and the satisfaction of drives as our purpose in life.

In the area of drive-reduction theory, people seem to have different ideas about definitions. How is this tied to the displacement theory?

Where does drive-reduction theory come in, when animals experience a drive to preserve themselves from burning alive? What happens in a fire?

Does the drive-reduction theory work well for simple motivations? For animals, sure. For humans, not so much.

Here is one last group of suggestions for free (or very economical) indoor occupations as alternatives to screen time or overeating.

Mental and emotional problems can manifest through the body, and destructive fat is one of their favorite channels.

Even under very limited circumstances, it is still important that kids move around and do things.

Any kind of active play is not only helpful but crucial to the maintenance of both physical and mental health. And you don’t necessarily need equipment.

We have some suggestions about how to keep kids active even in restricted environments during the pandemic.

Judging a person’s health based on their appearance is almost as intrusive and unjustifiable as rating a woman’s appearance on a scale of 1 to 10.

When animals do displacement behavior and when people do procrastination, it all boils down to the same thing, which is “avoidance behavior.”

Amidst the controversy that arose over the work of ethology’s founders, including Niko Tinbergen, his “Four Questions” have stood the test of time pretty well.

Over the years, many scientists were having trouble with the untrammeled practice of assuming parallels between animal behavior and human behavior.

Tracing the history of the collaboration between Nikolaas Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz because it encompasses some of the ideas in Dr. Pretlow’s current project.

Our recent posts have focused on Nikolaas Tinbergen because he was one of the scientists who contributed most to the earliest theories about ethology.

Ethology is the study of animal behavior, particularly under natural conditions in the creatures’ natural environment.

The field of ethology is the biological study of animal behaviors, both instinctive and learned, in nature.

Why do humans get to define what is an inappropriate stimulus, and what is abnormal behavior?

This series is about helping kids find things to do with their hands (and in some cases, their mouths) that will help them avoid snacking.

Children’s hands and mouths are both heavily implicated in the destructive habit of snacking, so let’s continue with the theme of keeping them busy.

Every minute a child spends engaged in a rewarding activity that occupies hands and/or mouth is a minute to be treasured and repeated.

The basic message here is that every moment spent by a child in some activity other than eating is a moment to be treasured.

One big reason why kids eat is because they are unhappy. Whether the parent feels like that is justified, or not, is irrelevant.

The philosophy of “Do as I say, not as I do” never works out well. The art of demonstrating true leadership includes eating lots of veggies and fruits.

It’s not the food that is addictive, it’s the eating. This offers hope that the displacement mechanism may be useful in the treatment of eating addiction.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans was criticized for its too-cozy relationship with the food and pharma industries, and for conflicts of interest.

We listen to experts on what type of fuel to put into our car. If only we would pay a similar amount of attention to what we put into our bodies.

Amy and Tammy Slaton, morbidly obese adult sisters who won an eating contest and a TV reality show contract, are back.

It has been a while since addiction was discussed here, so the object of the next few posts is to catch up with ideas that people have had about the subject.

Xand and Chris van Tulleken, the very media-savvy twin doctors with weight issues, have a complicated history regarding both obesity and each other.