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Everything about Fixed action pattern
Instinctive animal behavior
In the study of animal behavior, a fixed action pattern is an instinctive behavioral sequence that is highly stereotyped and species-characteristic. Fixed action patterns are said to be produced by the innate releasing mechanism, a "hard-wired" neural network, in response to a sign/key stimulus or releaser. Once released, a fixed action pattern runs to completion. Wikipedia →
🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: Fixed action patternA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: More than a simple fixed action pattern: Yawning in drillsInfluential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: Imitation of ChristThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: How “Fixed” is the Fixed Action Pattern?Cited 204 times
- Go sideways: Supernormal stimulusA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Nikolaas TinbergenA closely related topic
📖 Definitions
No dictionary entry for this exact phrase.
🗂️ The subject at a glance
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
How “Fixed” is the Fixed Action Pattern?
Feeding inHelisoma trivolvis: The Morphological and Physiological Bases of a Fixed Action Pattern
The neuronal basis of behavior in Tritonia. III. Neuronal mechanism of a fixed action pattern
Neuronal Network Triggering a Fixed Action Pattern
Tritonia swimming: triggering of a fixed action pattern
Control of a fixed action pattern by single, central neurons in the marine mollusk,Tritonia diomedea
Rescheduling Behavioral Subunits of a Fixed Action Pattern by Genetic Manipulation of Peptidergic Signaling
The Strut Display of Male Sage Grouse: a "Fixed" Action Pattern
🆕 Influential since 2022
📚 Books worth reading
Imitation of ChristThomas à Kempis, Jérôme de Gonnelieu · 1568
Operations ManagementRoberta S. Russell, Bernard Taylor · 1998
The personal MBAJosh Kaufman · 2010
Eloquent JavascriptMarijn Haverbeke · 2009
Learning PHP, MySQL & JavaScriptRobin Nixon · 2009
Treaty Occupationay ToxicologySuelen Queiroz · 2010
The Conspirators HierarchyJohn Coleman · 1992
Digital planetGeorge Beekman, Ben Beekman · 2011
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
🔗 Related topics
- Supernormal stimulus A supernormal stimulus or superstimulus is an exaggerated version of a stimulus to which there is an existing response tendency, or any stimulus that elicits…
- Nikolaas Tinbergen Nikolaas "Niko" Tinbergen (/ˈtɪnbɜːrɡən/ TIN-bur-gən, Dutch: [ˈnikoː(laːs) ˈtɪmbɛrɣə(n)]; 15 April 1907 – 21 December 1988) was a Dutch biologist and ornitholog…
- Hawk/goose effect In ethology and cognitive ethology, the hawk/goose effect refers to a behavior observed in some young birds when another bird flies above them: if the…
- Konrad Lorenz Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (Austrian German: [ˈkɔnraːd tsaxaˈriːas ˈloːrɛnts] ; 7 November 1903 – 27 February 1989) was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist…
- Instinct Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing innate (inborn) elements. The simplest example…
- Animal behaviour Animal behaviour is the individual or social behaviour of animals, contributing to their survival. It is studied by the science of ethology. Behaviour…
- Neuroethology Neuroethology is the evolutionary and comparative approach to the study of animal behavior and its underlying mechanistic control by the nervous system…
- Vacuum activity Vacuum activities (or vacuum behaviours) are innate fixed action patterns (FAPs) of animal behaviour that are performed in the absence of a sign stimulus…