Supernormal stimulus
A major body of Tinbergen's research focused on what he termed the supernormal stimulus. This was the concept that one could build an artificial object which was a stronger stimulus or releaser for an instinct than the object for which the instinct originally evolved. He constructed plaster eggs to see which a bird preferred to sit on, finding that they would select those that were larger, had more defined markings, or more saturated colour—and a dayglo-bright one with black polka dots would be selected over the bird's own pale, dappled eggs.

از دید روانشناسی تکاملی؛ در بحث جفت یابی انسان ها؛ محرک های جنسی فراهنجاز (فرا نرمال) باعث تحریک بیشتر و جذبه می‌شود.