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Animals with nervous systems are born with instincts. An instinct is a part of the behaviour of an organism. It is inherited (innate), not learned. However, the term does not include the operation of sense organs, and does not include the normal working of the autonomic nervous system. Instincts are to do with visible muscular action in response to releasers. Releasers are triggers which set off chains of instinctive behaviour. Although instincts are not learned, in some cases their performance can be improved by experience and practice.
There are some problems with the term 'instinct'. It can be used loosely to mean a general tendency, such as "a man's instinct is to protect his family". It can be used to describe chains of behaviour of mixed origin. Properly, it is used only of well-defined acts whose causation is inherited, and which are triggered by specific stimuli called releasers.[1]
Other terms for instinct are fixed action patterns (FAP) and innate behaviour chains.
- ↑ Tinbergen, Niko 1951. The study of instinct. Oxford University Press.