Maximum permeability model

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The maximum permeability model was developed by the behavioral biologist Bernhard Hassenstein . This model is based on considerations of biological cybernetics and states that the observable behaviors (“behavioral tendencies”) of animals are regulated by inhibitory or activating processes. This model tries to describe the sequence of behavior of animals without the aid of further basic assumptions.

Term maximum permeability

If several internal or external causes activate or inhibit the organism at the same time, according to the model, the “strongest” behavioral tendency will show itself in behavior that is visible to the observer ; Hassenstein also speaks of maximum value permeability . Meanwhile, the other behavioral tendencies have not disappeared, just inhibited. This cybernetic model of behavior control presupposes an “either / or circuit” and furthermore that all behavioral tendencies are included in this circuit, with the strongest behavioral tendency inhibiting all others via feedback.

The model is based on the idea that all behaviors that cannot take place in the organism at the same time are linked to one another by inhibiting actuators . According to Hassenstein, the maximum value allowance ensures that the strongest of these behavioral tendencies prevails. From this it follows that after the first behavior has been carried out, the second strongest behavior tendency can now be expressed as the strongest in visible behavior. Behavioral tendencies that exist at the same time are thus shown in a sequence of behaviors.

  • Example: One observes the behavior of an animal that has a strong need for sleep and a strong thirst at the same time. The animal first absorbs liquid and then lies down to rest. According to the model, this sequence can be interpreted in such a way that the need for sleep did not disappear while drinking, but only prevailed after quenching the thirst (the currently “stronger” behavioral tendency).

The model enables a formal description of observable behavior sequences without explaining or even being able to take into account the conditions under which the individual behavior patterns arise.

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