Instincts vs. Acquired Behavior
Instinctive activity is evolutionarily adapted to a stable habitat. It features rigid programming of every step. During an instinctive act, continuous verification of the achieved intermediate result occurs against the parameters of the action result acceptor (acceptor of action results). If a stage is not successfully completed, progression toward the goal is blocked. The animal must complete all steps of the program to satisfy the dominant need.
In a constantly changing environment, rigid instinctive frameworks are ineffective. Here, individual learning comes to the forefront. Genetic mechanisms provide only the initial foundation—the basis of biological motivations. Further behavioral quantization is shaped through acquired mechanisms.
Mechanisms of Acquired Behavior Formation
The foundation of acquired behavior is the formation of conditioned reflexes—the establishment of functional temporary connections between a signaling (conditioned) stimulus and an unconditioned reinforcement. This enables the organism to mount anticipatory reactions, preparing for future events.
Individually acquired activity possesses several unique properties:
- Selectivity. Attention is focused exclusively on stimuli that are critically important for satisfying the current leading need.
- Ignoring minor details. Signals of lesser significance are filtered out, even if they historically accompanied success.
- High plasticity. The meaning of conditioned signals is dynamic: they can acquire signaling significance or lose it entirely depending on the presence of reinforcement.
Orienting Activity, Play, and Memory
Constructing behavior in a novel, unfamiliar environment relies on innate exploratory (orienting) behavior. When encountering unknown factors or during rising drive states, the animal actively scans the environment, assessing whether stimuli promote or hinder goal achievement. This reaction is accompanied by massive brain activation: at the cellular level, the expression of "immediate-early genes" (e.g., c-Fos, c-Jun) is triggered, which is necessary for consolidating information into memory.
The strongest traces (engrams) are left by reinforcing stimuli that satisfy the dominant need. Furthermore, established skills can be transferred to novel situations.
Play holds immense importance in independent learning. Through play, motor skills are refined, sensory analysis is trained, and dynamic behavioral programs are formed—flexible schemas based on the capacity for anticipation.
Structure and Automation of the Behavioral Act
Through repeated practice, goal-directed behavior transforms, shifting from an explicit, detailed action to an automated skill.
- Explicit Behavioral Act. During the acquisition phase of a new action (in a changing environment), the dominant motivation triggers a program executed strictly step-by-step. The key feature here is continuous monitoring. Information regarding the results of each intermediate step is returned to the CNS (reafferentation) for comparison with the plan. This requires the participation of higher cortical areas and high concentration.
- Automated Skill. When actions are consolidated in stable conditions, intermediate steps merge into a single block. Intermediate conscious control is reduced. The command from the CNS is directed straight toward the final goal, and feedback arrives only after the final outcome is achieved. Control shifts to internal brain self-regulation systems, leading to a sharp drop in overall CNS energy expenditure. The cortex intervenes only in the event of an error (failure to achieve the goal).