Together with Nikolaas Tinbergen, Lorenz developed the idea of an innate releasing mechanism to explain instinctive behaviors (fixed action patterns).

Specific Action Potential (SAP).

This is the internal drive, which is of the very essence of the word instinct - fixed action or the fixed-action pattern

¨ Complete inventory of fixed action patterns

¨ Study their relation to one another

¨ Circum­stances in which they appear

¨ Analyze them experimentally

Innate Releasing Mechanism (lRM)

Assumes that within the central nervous system, there is a series of mechanisms coordinated with the more complex sense organs, which effectively inhibits or blocks all discharges of activity unless the animal encounters the right environmental situation or stimulus to remove or release the block