Part of the problem is simply in the definition. Your teacher was using just one of several possible definitions of instinct.
From Merriam-Webster:
If you insist on definition 2a, then your teacher is probably right (at least for adult humans). There is virtually nothing in human behavior that is unalterable through the imposition of reason - a capacity that other animals lack.
However, if we allow for definition 2b, then most assuredly we do display instinctual behavior. Very often our behavior is determined by instinctual urges for sex, territory, or social standing that are largely impervious to reason, and in fact may conflict dramatically with what our reason tells us is the right thing to do.
This is an excellent example. Humans have an innate ability, and in fact a need, to use language. Infants deprived of much language input from adults, but allowed to “converse” with another infant, will sometimes develop a language of their own
The sucking thing in infants already mentioned is called “Rooting”. In action, rooting means that if you touch a newborn’s cheek (even one only minutes old) it will instinctively turn towards the touch, open it’s mouth, and start “rooting” for a nipple. Human behavior doesn’t get much more instinctual than that. There’s also a grasping reflex–which causes a baby to grip a finger placed in his palm. And a stepping reflex–meaning if you hold a baby with their feet touching the floor they’ll march in place. Babies in all cultures, of all races, and of all socioeconomic backgrounds do these things. These are–for infants anyway–complex reactions to stimuli that are consistent and repetitive. Sounds like instinct to me.
“Instinct: a fixed-action pattern displayed by all members of the species in the same situation without any evidence of learning. This is not the same as a reflex like infants rooting and sucking behavior after birth that facilitates nursing for food. These are reflexes. Pulling your hand away from a hot pot on the stove is also a reflex. An example of instinct, as the text describes it, is the salmon swimming back to their birthplace to spawn. No learning is involved as they are all doing it for the first and only time and have not seen any other salmon do it. Some bird species will build a nest the same way as every other member of the species at the right time to lay eggs and hatch them. They will use the same materials if available, and the same construction methods even if they have been raised in isolation form other birds.” -from http://faculty.whatcom.ctc.edu/briesenb/General%20Psychology/module12/linstinc.htm
All of what has been posted above are reflexes. I want to see an instinct that is not a reaction/reflex. Something that is pre-programmed, and has nothing to do with reason - i.e. something that eventually gets “reasoned out” with intellectual maturity.
A baby rooting is “reasoned out” with intellectual maturity? It’s neither a reaction nor a reflex; why doesn’t this example fit your protocol? Is it because it’s not as intricate as constructing a bird nest? Hoew about a baby’s instinctive fear of heights without having the intellectual maturity of knowing the dangers in falling? How about men being territorial?
A reflex in psychology is an involuntary, unlearned or instinctive repsonse to a stimulus. By calling one a reflex and one an instinct you’re engaging in sematics.
X-ray, do you suckle whenever something touches your mouth? I sure don’t. It has been “reasoned out” by intellectual maturity.
babies are afraid of heights? never heard of that one.
semantics? no. Humans have no instincts based on the psycholigical definition. Besides, almost every great argument can be reduced to semantics. Semantics often determine very important decisions in courts that affect the lives of millions of people. Semantics are important. But in this case, its not about semantics.
Actually, I’ve been on solid food for quite a while now Lenny, not much need for me to suckle. You’re saying because babies do this but adults don’t it fails to be classified as an instinct?
Can you name one instinctive behaviour in any mammal? Can you give any example of “a fixed-action pattern displayed by all members of a mammal species in the same situation without any evidence of learning?”
Even the mammalian migrations, or breeding season duels aren’t instinctive by that definition, since not all members engage in those bahaviours.
It seems that by your defintions only the egg laying tetrapods exibit instincts, which is pretty odd.
Yes it is. You are choosing one of several possible definitions of instinct - which I and others have pointed out.
By one definition of instinct, yes, humans do show instinctual behavior. By the extremely restrictive definition you employ - one that appears to be designed to exclude humans - then they do not. But you are stacking the deck. Since humans are the only animals to possess “reason,” they are the only ones in which reason can override instinct.
Well, I’m pretty sure x-ray doesn’t normally suckle, but the fact that he doesn’t goes nowhere towards showing that it’s not an instinct. Salmon don’t instinctually head to their spawning grounds at any particular time – just at the age-appropriate time.
The text says:
…and then goes on to say that rooting, which is a fixed-action pattern that all humans display at birth, without any evidence of learning, is not an instinct.
Maybe it’s not as complex as returning to one’s spawning grounds, but is the latter all that complex? All that would be needed would be strong enough senses when the salmon first entered the ocean, and a precise memory of what was sensed at that time. When the instinct to return kicked in, they would merely follow their sense-memory until they reaced the right spot.
Another animal instinct: when baby birds first hatch, they will immediately screech and open their mouths wide when they see their parents. They have no idea that doing so will provide them food – they’ve seen no examples of that at all at the moment they hatch. But they do it, and they are then rewarded for their efforts.
That, then, is the equivalent of rooting in infants. When the infant first touches her mother’s breast, she has no knowledge of what lies beneath. She has no way of knowing that sucking at the breast will release its milk. But she turns and sucks, and is then rewarded.
Of course babies are afraid of heights. They are also instinctively afraid of snakes.
Humans have MORE instincts than any other animal; our brains are extremely advanced, and part of that advancement is a huge wealth of instinct. Aside from the basic physical instincts already mentioned - and they are instincts - you have:
Sexual display instincts. Even seen a woman twirl her hair in her fingers while flirting? Instinct. Men puffing up their chests which a hot chick is around? Instinct. It has been conclusively demonstrated that female college students dress more provocatively when they’re most fertile. Instinct. Male sports competitiveness: Instinct.
Altruism. Humans demonstrate many distinctive behaviours that contribute to societal cohesion. Humans are one of the few animals instinctively willing to take an individual loss to punish others for greedy behaviour, a fact that has been demonstrated in innumerable experiments.
Hell - have you ever heard of parents loving their children? A parent driven to put themselves in harm’s way, even die, to protect their kids? That basic drive is an instinct.
Visual recognition. Humans are instinctively attracted to some faces and body types more than others. Humans are instinctively attracted to straight lines and right angles. Ever notice how peoeple love cute animals? That’s instinctive, my friend.
Competition. Human competitiveness is ENTIRELY instinctive. Sports, wanting a nicer car, career competition - all habe elements of instinct.
Receptiveness to senses. Doesn’t a baby’s cry seem loud? That’s because you, like all humans, and instictively programmed to focus on a baby’s cry more than another sound of equivalent volume. You are instictively focused on speech more than other sounds. Some tastes and smells instinctively repulse you - that’s instinct, ingrained in you to keep you from eating certain things. Doesn’t a well-cooked roast beef smell great? Instinct.
You are absolutely, indisputably wrong; humans are heavily imbued with instinct.
Rickjay,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … all wrong. every single one. They are all learned behaviors. And not all humans do them. 1 - Do all women flirt? NO. Do all women play with their hair? NO. Do all men puff up their chests when hot chicks are around? NO. Do all college women dress more provocatively when fertile? NO. DO all males sport competitiveness? NO.
2 - Do all humans show altruism? NO.
3 - Are all humans attracted to straight lines and right angles? NO. Are all humans attracted to small animals? NO.
4 - Competitiveness is not instinct. There is no pre-programmed behavior regarding this. Elements of instinct? maybe. But not instinct.
5 - All reflex. I may react more to a baby’s cry than another sound of similar volume because I know that a baby is helpless and may need something from me that it cannot do for itself. I learned that. And so did the baby.
X-ray,
Fear is a very healthy learned response. A primitive part of your brain is used when, but only because your conscious mind gets it started. Do you fear a car that is driving fast when it is a long way from you? No. Does it create an adrenaline rush? No. Do you fear a car that is driving fast coming at you and is very close? Yes. Does is create an adrenaline rush? Yes. Why? Because your conscious mind knows that danger is near and it alerts the more primitive part of your brain and that in turn creates the “flight or fight” reaction.
babies do not learn to talk or walk without our teaching them. They do what they learn from their environment and what their parents teach them.
Can you name one instinctive behaviour in any mammal? Can you give any example of “a fixed-action pattern displayed by all members of a mammal species in the same situation without any evidence of learning?”
Even the mammalian migrations, or breeding season duels aren’t instinctive by that definition, since not all members engage in those bahaviours.
It seems that by your defintions only the egg laying tetrapods exibit instincts, which is pretty odd.
