A reaction potential ceiling and response decrements in complex situations

On the basis of Hullian drive theory, it is not difficult to account for the rela-tively poorer performance of high drive subjects when the correct response is nondominant, or the superior perform-ance of high drive subjects in some instances when the correct response is dominant. The relationship E^-E2 = {^(H^-Hz)] yields the prediction that increased drive (£>), by multiply-ing differences in habit strength (H), leads to an increase in the difference between the reaction potential (£) of the primary response and the reac-tion potentials of competing responses.2 When the dominant tendency is cor-rect, higher drive will favor the occur-rence of correct responses, and when the dominant tendency is incorrect, higher drive will detract from perform-ance because the probability that oscil-lation will bring the E of the dominant incorrect response below that of the correct response is decreased. A more difficult problem is posed by the occurrence of decrements in the performance of a dominant response related to increased drive. Drive re-lated response decrements have been noted in two types of situations: with very strong drive levels, and also with high habit strength and less extreme drive levels. When drive is varied, the relationship between drive level and the performance of a dominant re-sponse seems to take the form of an