Reticular mechanisms and behavior.

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Abstract
This paper includes a brief overview of the structural and functional characteristics of the reticular formation in addition to a review of the research literature concerned with the interaction of specific and nonspecific systems, central control of afferent input, cortical projections to the reticular system, and the reticular system and the learning process. Of particular relevance to psychological theory is the observation that constructs such as attention, perception, or drive possess a common factor of nonspecific reticular activation in addition to their specific properties. It may be that such constructs, now regarded as operationally independent, are actually functionally related in terms of a common factor of reticular activation. 5 p. refs.