> [Krimel] > you can't actually learn a reflex. [Sharath] I'm not an expert on this subject. But I do believe reflexes can be sharpened and also developed. For eg, table tennis players who require fast reflexes are not born with such a talent. of course they may be genetically disposed to have good short twitched muscles, also I know people talk about how after long practice their strokes become part of muscle-memory and they then execute them without thought. I am not sure whether instinct and reflex are the same though. I believe instinct is something that cannot be taught - from m-w.com instinct "**a largely inheritable and unalterable tendency of an organism to make a complex and specific response to environmental stimuli without involving reason b*:* behavior that is mediated by reactions below the conscious level".
[Krimel] As I said earlier that is an array of "reflexes." They include simple reflex arcs, many of which can be shown to occur in animals whose brains have been disconnect from the spinal cord. At a more sophisticated level we find fixed action patterns that are complex activities that occur automatically. These include swallowing, blinking, yawning, walking and the like. I also said that it is definitely possible to condition the expression of these reflexes. Even the immune system can be classically conditioned. But the reflexes themselves are hardwired. They are not learned they are build directly into our biology. But yes, they can be modified by experience. Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
