Probing motivational state during agonistic encounters in animals

Research into the motivational state of animals during the course of a fight has used hermit crabs collected from a shore in Northern Ireland. Particular attention was given to whether relative fighting ability and resource value are evaluated by the animal and, if so, how the information affects motivational state at a specific time in the contest. The relative size ot the combatants did not seem to affect the motivation of the attacker. The temporal pattern of the fight varied with relative size, with fewer raps per bout given to quite large opponents.