Fixed Action Patterns (FAPs)

FAPs are usually not isolated events. One animal's FAP may be another animal's KS. Such chain reactions are known as interactive FAP sequences. Courtship displays frequently are interactive FAP sequences, as are dance rituals like the honeybee dance. An important point to keep in mind when studying behavior is that although individual stimuli and reactions can sometimes be isolated in laboratory experiments, nature is typically not so black and white. Individuals interact with conspecifics, and with other neighboring species, which interact with yet other species. The result is a continuous and complex web of behavior.