I've noticed a related phenomenon in day-to-day life, especially regarding deadlocking. There are occasions when two parties will deadlock; the classic one is when two people walk towards each other, directly in line, and come to a point where they want to pass without colliding. It happens -- often with comic effect -- when the two parties sidestep at perceptibly the same point and in the same direction, again and again, deadlocking themselves. However, something kicks in after two-or-three failed attempts to resolve the deadlock.

I've noticed similar things at traffic junctions; roundabouts and single-lane roads, especially. Personally, I sometimes do this when I go to open a door that is often, but not always, locked: my hand will reach for the latch, then go for the handle, then back and forth semi-automatically, until my higher thinking kicks in and I realise I've just got to make a decision!

In these cases, I feel as though the cycles aren't weakened, but instead there's some kind of executive function -- that's normally asleep, because it's presumably expensive to run -- which oversees to break the impasse, when needed.