AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The term sign stimulus also known as a releaser, is the determining feature of a stimulus that produces a response. Sign stimuli are often found when observing a fixed action pattern (FAP) that is an innate behaviour with very little variance in the manner in which the actions are executed.

Detailed explanation-2: -Stimulus Response Theory attempts to explain human behavior as a series of interactions between stimuli and the responses they evoke from human subjects. It is the basis of classical conditioning, as seen in Pavlov’s dogs. Here, the food and the bell are stimuli, and the salivating is the response.

Detailed explanation-3: -sign stimulus (releaser) The essential feature of a stimulus, which is necessary to elicit a response. For example, a red belly (characteristic of courting male sticklebacks) is the sign stimulus necessary to provoke an attack from a rival male; even a very crude model fish is attacked if it has a red undersurface.

Detailed explanation-4: -The specific type of stimulus which triggers a fixed action pattern is often called a sign stimulus, key stimulus, or a releaser. The sign stimulus triggers a complex neural pathway called an innate releasing mechanism, which begins a behavioral cascade.