Behaviour produced as an involuntary and relatively immediate consequence of sensory stimulation: the behaviour is a reaction (or response) to a stimulus
Stimulus-elicited behaviour is involuntary, many internally initiated behaviours are voluntary (in people)
Types of motor behaviours
Stimulus-elicited behaviours
Internally initiated behaviours
Spontaneous behaviours
Reflexes
Reflex
A stimulus-elicited behaviour, so the behaviour itself occurs as an involuntary response to an eliciting stimulus
Autonomic reflex
One mediated by the autonomic nervous system (ANS)
Defining characteristics of reflexes
The nervous system does not need to identify, recognize or obtain any information about a distal stimulus
The behavioural response is elicited by proximal stimulation
Egg retrieval behaviour of some ground nesting birds is not a reflex
Releasing mode of elicitation
The stimulus triggers the response in a discrete fashion. The response is 'stored' beforehand and the stimulus releases it.
Driving mode of elicitation
The stimulus drives the response in a continuous fashion: neural activation evoked by the stimulus is transformed into efferent signals to the muscles.
Stimulus driven reflex responses
Duration: if the eliciting stimulus persists, the response persists
Amplitude/vigour: if the eliciting stimulus is intense/strong, the response is larger/more vigorous
Variation: if the eliciting stimulus strength increases and decreases, response vigor increases and decreases
Releasing mode of elicitation is appropriate when you want the size of the response be independent of the stimulus strength
Driving mode of elicitation is useful when you want the 'size' of the response to be dependent upon the strength of the stimulus
