Information in a dynamic theory of behavioral patterns

Abstract

The question of how behavioral patterns are flexibly adjusted to perceived environmental influences during learning or by intention is addressed from a theoretical perspective in which behavioral patterns are governed by collective variables and their dynamics. Due to the central concept of temporal stability, dynamic theories of behavior patterns give rise to a number of predictions and can therefore be subjected to experimental test. The concept of behavioral information provides a succinct encoding of behavioral requirements in terms of collective variables. A general prediction is that behavioral requirements act on the dynamic properties of behavioral patterns and may lead to loss of stability and discontinuous pattern change as the requirement is changed gradually. The influence of intrinsic dynamics can be observed as the systematic deviation from required patterns in the direction of intrinsically stable patterns. The author discusses how the concept of behavioral information can be used to express the cooperation or competition of different behavioral requirements