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Meaning of action pattern in English:

action pattern

noun

Psychology Zoology

  • A behaviour or sequence of behaviours elicited in response to a particular stimulus or situation; specifically (more fully "fixed action pattern", "modal action pattern") a rigid sequence of such behaviours which is innate, highly stimulus-dependent, and runs to completion once elicited.

Origin

1920s; earliest use found in Journal of Abnormal Psychology.