eactions does not relieve the tension in the
main center. The dammed-up energy stays there till the proper stimulus
is procured for arousing the end-reaction, and then escapes through
its main channel of discharge, and the main center then finally comes
to rest.

It may fairly be urged that no violence has been done to the general
conception of a reaction by these additions, and also that with the
additions the notion of a reaction has room for tendencies or inner
adjustments. So that we conclude that stimulus-response psychology is
adequate to the job, and will do justice to all forms of human
behavior. It has a place for sensations, perceptions and thoughts, as
we saw in the preceding chapter, and it has a place also for purposes,
desires and motives generally.

Motives

In the present chapter, desirous of "keeping close to the ground", we
have said little of distinctively human motives. That will come later.
In general, a motive is a tendency towards a certain end-result or
end-reaction, a tendency which is itself aroused by some stimulus, and
which {85} persists for a time because its end-reaction is not at once
made. The end-reaction is not made at once because it can only be
aroused by an appropriate stimulus, acting in conjunction with the
motive. But the motive, persisting in its inner activity, facilitates
reactions to certain stimuli and inhibits others. The reactions it
facilitates are preparatory to the end-reaction, in that they provide
the necessary conditions for that reaction to occur, which means that
they bring to bear on the individual the necessary stimulus which can
arouse the end-reaction. The restlessness that characterizes an
individual driven by an inner motive gives way to rest and
satisfaction when the end-result is reached.

Motives range from the primitive or primal, like hunger, to the very
advanced, such as zeal for a cause. They range from the momentary,
illustrated by the need for more light in reading, to the great
permanent forces of life, like _amour propre_ and _esprit de corps_.
But the permanent motives are not always active; they sleep and are
awakened again by appropriate stimuli.

In everyday speech we are apt to use the words "motive" and "reason"
interchangeably, as in asking some one what his "motive", or what his
"reason" is for doing so and so. A motive, however, is not necessarily
a reason, nor a reason a motive. A reason is thought-out and
conscious, which a moti