stereotypical behavior.
Each person has a limited number of thoughtful decisions they can make during the day. This is due to the work of our brain, which spends energy on analysis and decision-making, and energy has a limit. Decisions made at the end of this energy are less effective or not effective at all. Therefore, some people try to automate a number of everyday decisions, for example, what clothes to wear. However, there is a downside to the coin, which we will talk about now.
Not long ago, at least 150 years ago, an ordinary person received less information in his entire life than we receive today in one day. Did the human brain manage to develop in such a short time and adapt to such a huge amount of data - the answer is clear, no.
But the brain has to somehow deal with it to optimize energy expenditure on data processing. One of the solutions to this problem that our brains have come up with is stereotypical behavior.
Repetitive stereotyped behavior, often rhythmic actions or sequences of actions that seem aimless, dysfunctional, or without clear meaning. This behavior can be expressed in different forms: movements, voices, manipulation of objects, rituals or ways of interacting with the outside world.
Main features:.
- Ability to repeat.
- Lack of purpose.
- Reluctance.
- Stability and rigidity, when the behavior does not change with changes in the environment.
Types of stereotypical behavior:
- engine (engine). Jumping, running, shaking hands, touching, turning hands, etc.
- sensory-motor (motor-sensory). Rhythmic tapping of the fingers, rotation around its axis, constant feeling of objects, squinting of the eyes, pressing the eyes with fingers or palms.
- Speech.