This led to the concept of the supernormal stimulus.
The body of Tinbergen's research focused on what he termed supernormal stimuli.
The result is often glitches in animals, including supernormal stimuli.
The phrase "supernormal stimuli" was coined by the Dutch scientist Niko Tinbergen in the 1930s.
Barrett's book Waistland (2007) explores the weight and fitness crisis in terms of supernormal stimuli for food and rest.
Natural selection can leave animals behaving in detrimental ways when they encounter supernormal stimuli - like a moth flying into a flame.
These exaggerated releasers for instincts were named supernormal stimuli by Tinbergen.
Harvard psychologist Deirdre Barrett has done research pointing out how easily humans also respond to supernormal stimuli for sexual, nurturing, feeding, and social instincts.
This is an example of a supernormal stimulus.