SENSORY INFORMATION - THE GUIDING FACTOR OF THE EARLY ONTOGENY

Ontogenetic process reveals a row of consecutive stages characterized by the gradual increase in complexity and by the changing specificity of sensory mechanisms basic for the adaptive behavior of the young, Th e study examines the mechanisms of interaction among different sensory systems during the formation of early behavioral patterns and analyze s why, at a certain stage of development, a particular sensory stimulu s looses its efficacy in the organization of a given behavior and is s ubstituted by another one, previously ineffective. A special attention is paid to formation of behavior based on sensory information within the limits of ontogenetically fixed developmental critical periods and to the role of the early sensory experience in learning in adult anim als.