PSYC 2230 Chapter 2: CHAPTER 2 - Motivation
10 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
Genetically motivated behaviors have often been analyzed under the topic of instinct. An instinct can be regarded as a genetically programmed bit of behavior that occurs when circumstances are appropriate and that requires no learning of the behavior. Instinct as an explanation for motivated behavior 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 behaviors as instinctive. This lead to what has been called the nominal fallacy (i. e. simply naming something an instinct not explain the behavior) E. g. if we saw someone behaving aggressively, we might try to explain that behavior in terms of an aggressive instinct. To explain the behavior, we must do more. We really have not explained anything though; we have merely labeled the behavior. We must understand what conditions led to the behavior and what consequences resulted from it.
