APA Dictionary of Psychology

the final response in a natural chain of behaviors directed toward achieving a goal. For example, eating (to reduce hunger) is the final act of the sequence of responses involved in foraging for food, and copulation (to reduce the sex drive) is the final act of sexual behavior. In 1918, U.S. ethologist Wallace Craig distinguished between consummatory behavior as an innate stereotyped activity and appetitive behavior as the active searching process that precedes it. Also called consummatory act; consummatory behavior. See also goal-directed behavior.