The role of typological differences in the behaviour of animals during their adaptation to extreme situations

In relation to Cosmos experiments behavioural responses of rhesus monkeys were investigated and compared with their conditioned reflex activities. The animals with a distinct search-oriented behaviour showed a higher rate of recovery of instrumented reflexes, better stability of conditioned-reflex activities to stress-effects and a faster adaptation to them. Extreme effects associated with changes in the experimental environment and rigid fixation inhibited conditioned-reflex activities to a greater extent than strong but short-term exposures followed by tests in a normal environment. It was also demonstrated that variations of the sleep structure in stress situations were largely dependent on typological features of animals.