Fixed action pattern: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 10:58, 6 September 2020

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A '''fixed action pattern''' is an [[Ethology|ethological]] term describing an [[instinct]]ive behavioral sequence that is highly stereotyped and species-characteristic.<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Páez-Rondón |firstfirst1=Oscar |last2=Aldana |first2=Elis |last3=Dickens |first3=Joseph |last4=Otálora-Luna |first4=Fernando |date=May 2018 |title=Ethological description of a fixed action pattern in a kissing bug (Triatominae): vision, gustation, proboscis extension and drinking of water and guava |journal=Journal of Ethology |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=107–116 |doi=10.1007/s10164-018-0547-y |issn=0289-0771|doi-access=free }}</ref> Fixed action patterns are said to be produced by the innate releasing mechanism, a "hard-wired" [[neural network]], in response to a [[sign stimulus]] or '''releaser'''.<ref name=":03"/><ref name=":15">{{Cite journal |last=Ronacher |first=Bernhard |date=February 2019 |title=Innate releasing mechanisms and fixed action patterns: basic ethological concepts as drivers for neuroethological studies on acoustic communication in Orthoptera |journal=Journal of Comparative Physiology A |volume=205 |issue=1 |pages=33–50 |doi=10.1007/s00359-018-01311-3 |issn=0340-7594 |pmc=6394777 |pmid=30617601}}</ref> Once released, a fixed action pattern runs to completion.<ref name=":03"/>

This term is often associated with [[Konrad Lorenz]], who is the founder of the concept.<ref name=":03"/> Lorenz identified six characteristics of fixed action patterns.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |title=Studying animal behavior : autobiographies of the founders |date=1989 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |others=Dewsbury, Donald A. |isbn=0226144100 |___location=Chicago |oclc=19670401}}</ref> These characteristics state that fixed action patterns are stereotyped, complex, species-characteristic, released, triggered, and independent of experience.<ref name=":22" />

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Fixed action patterns have been observed in many species, but most notably in fish and birds.<ref name=":03"/><ref name=":15" /> Classic studies by Konrad Lorenz and [[Nikolaas Tinbergen|Niko Tinbergen]] involve male stickleback mating behavior and greylag goose egg-retrieval behavior.<ref name=":82">Tinebergen, N. (1952). The curious behavior of sticklebacks. ''Scientific American'', 6, 22–26.</ref><ref name=":92">Lorenz, K., Tinbergen, N. (1970). Taxis and instinct in egg-rolling response of the greylag goose. ''Studies in Animal and Human Behavior'', 1, 328–342.</ref>

Fixed action patterns have been shown to be evolutionarily advantageous, as they increase both fitness and speed.<ref name=":112">{{Cite web |url=https://www.jove.com/science-education/10919/fixed-action-patterns |title=Fixed Action Patterns {{!}} Protocol |website=www.jove.com |access-date=2019-10-24}}</ref> However, as a result of their predictability, they may also be used as a means of exploitation. An example of this exploitation would be brood parasitism.<ref name=":132">{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Peer |firstfirst1=Brian D. |last2=Robinson |first2=Scott K. |last3=Herkert |first3=James R. |date=2000-10-01 |title=Egg Rejection by Cowbird Hosts in Grasslands |journal=The Auk |volume=117 |issue=4 |pages=892–901 |doi=10.1093/auk/117.4.892 |issn=1938-4254|doi-access=free }}</ref>

There are 4 exceptions to fixed action pattern rules.<ref name=":142">{{Cite journal |last=Schleidt |first=Wolfgang M. |title=How "Fixed" is the Fixed Action Pattern? |url=https://www.academia.edu/32893025 |journal=Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie |volume=36 |issue=1–5 |pages=184–211 |issn=0044-3573 |doi=10.1111/j.1439-0310.1974.tb02131.x |pmid=4467663 |year=2010}}</ref> These include reduced response threshold, [[vacuum activity]], displacement behavior, and graded response.<ref name=":142"/>

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=== Male stickleback mating behavior ===

[[File:3-spined_stickleback.jpg|alt=|thumb|A 3-spined stickleback like those used in Tinbergen's experiments.]]

One example of fixed action patterns is the courtship and aggression behaviors of the male [[stickleback]], particularly the [[Three-spined stickleback|three-spined stickleback]], during mating season, described in a series of studies by Niko Tinbergen.<ref name=":82"/><ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last1=Rowland |first1=William |title=Habituation and development of response specificity to a sign stimulus: male preference for female courtship posture in stickleback |journal=Animal Behaviour |date=February 3, 2000 |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=63–68 |accessdate=|doi=10.1006/anbe.2000.1462 |pmid=10924204 |s2cid=23095310 }}</ref> During the spring mating season, male sticklebacks ventrum turns red and they establish a territory to build a nest.<ref name=":82"/> They attack other male sticklebacks that enter their territory, but court females and entice them to enter the nest to lay their eggs.<ref name=":82"/> Tinbergen used models of sticklebacks to investigate which features of male and female sticklebacks elicited attack and courtship behavior from male sticklebacks.<ref name=":82"/> Tinbergen's main findings were that male sticklebacks responded in a relatively invariant way and attacked even the most crude of models with a red belly, but in contrast, courted a model with a swollen belly.<ref name=":82"/> He also found that when presented with both a real male stickleback and a crude model, if the model's stomach was more red, the stickleback would attack the model as opposed to the other real male stickleback.<ref name=":82"/>

=== Greylag goose egg-retrieval behavior ===