PS261 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Neural Pathway, Supernormal Stimulus, Reflex Arc
Document Summary
Elicited behaviour: behaviour that occurs in response to a specific stimulus. The simplest form of elicited behaviour is the reflex. Involve a precise relationship between an external stimulus and the corresponding response. The specificity of this relationship is caused by how the nervous system is organized. If the stimulus is present you will see the response, you will rarely see the response if its not. Reflex arc: 3 neurons; sensory (afferent), interneuron, motor neuron (efferent) Entire response is carried out by the spinal cord. Adaptive value: signal that has to travel to brain and back down to source will take longer to intiate a response than signal that just has to travel to spinal cord and back to source. Sequences of reflexes responses common to a particular species. There is a lot of variability in the response itself, as well as in the stimulus conditions that elicit response. Sign stimulus: specific set of features that elicits modal action pattern.
