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[The increase of variability in animal behavior due to autocorrelations]
Abstract:
We consider a simple kind of variability in animal instinctive behavior. It is comprised of switching between alternative actions. It consists also of variations in intensity of consecutive actions. This variability is not related to ambient stimuli or needs of organism--it is spontaneous and generated by nervous system itself. At the same time, the variability is not completely random. For example, autocorrelations are observed in variations of animal's consecutive actions. An interaction of autocorrelations with random influences results in an increase of behavioral variability. The increased variability is a property of mechanism controlling instinctive behavior. This does mean that an instinctive behavior is not entirely preprogrammed. One could assert that the instinct is a mechanism for generation of behavioral variations that are not preprogrammed.
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