Functional systems theory and the probabilistic prediction of behavior.

This article addresses the role of probabilistic prediction in the systems organization of behavioral acts. The systems mechanisms predicting the required results of the behavioral acts of living beings in stable and changing conditions are discussed. It is suggested that in all these types of behavior, the parameters of results satisfying the leading needs, which constitute the aims of behavior, are strictly predicted. The author believes that probabilistic prediction is related only to the means, actions, and accompanying emotional states, as well as that possible ways of achieving results, i.e., not to the parameters but to the means of achieving the required results.