PSYC 2230 Chapter 2: Chapter 2 full notes
1 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Genetically motivated behaviours have often been analyzed under the topic of instinct. An instinct can be regarded as a genetically programmed bit of behaviour that occurs when circumstances are appropriate and that requires no learning of the behaviour. Instinct as an explanation for motivated behaviour in both humans and animals reached its peak of popularity in the late 1800s and early 1900s. As the concept of instinct grew in popularity, it became fashionable to explain all behaviours as instinctive. This led to what has been called the nominal fallacy (i. e. simply naming something an instinct not explain the behaviour) E. g. if we saw someone behaving aggressively, we might try to explain that behaviour in terms of an aggressive instinct. We really have no explained anything though; we have merely labeled the behaviour. To explain the behaviour, we must do more. We must understand what conditions led to the behaviour and what consequences resulted from it.
