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Cognition and valence as chicken and egg: Motivational force evolved alongside cognition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2025

George Ainslie Open the ORCID record for George Ainslie [Opens in a new window]
George Ainslie*
Affiliation:
Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Coatesville, Pennsylvania, USA ga@picoeconomics.org www.picoeconomics.org
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

The convergent evolution described for invertebrate cognition might have occurred in similar fashion with motivational valence, the other pillar of response selection. Primitive examples of such properties as liking (versus wanting), dependence on appetite, and especially attenuation with delay might provide clues to a longstanding puzzle: how incentive salience, classical conditioning, emotional arousal, and mental behavior in general are apparently all entwined with valence.

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Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 48 , 2025 , e79
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© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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