sign stimulus

views updated Jun 08 2018

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. Similarly, territorial fighting in male robins is triggered by the sign stimulus of a red breast; a bunch of red feathers is enough to induce territorial behaviour. See also stimulus filtering.

sign stimulus

views updated May 29 2018

sign stimulus (releaser) Part of a stimulus that is sufficient to evoke a behavioural response in an animal (e.g. the patch of red colour that provokes an aggressive reaction in Erithacus rubecula, the European robin).

sign stimulus

views updated May 23 2018

sign stimulus(releaser) Part of a stimulus that is sufficient to evoke a behavioural response in an animal (e.g. the patch of red colour that provokes an aggressive reaction in Erithacus rubecula, the European robin).