PSYC 2230 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Eye Contact, Song Sparrow, Speech Synthesis

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2230
• Professor: Frank Marchese

Document Summary

Every instinct is an impulse which puts instinct into the domain of motivation (i. e. , a force acting on or within the organism to initiate behaviour) James explained the variability of instincts through two principles: that habit (i. e. , learning) can inhibit an instinct. James saw instinctive behaviour as intermediate between reflexes and learning, shading into each at the extremes: he did not propose to explain all behaviour through instinctive processes. Freud) have argued that even humans are often largely unaware of the reasons for their behaviour: mcdougall compiled a long list of instinctive behaviours some of which include: parental care, combat, curiosity, food seeking, repulsion, escape. Tolman noted: the arbitrary designation of behaviours as instinctive robs the concept of any explanatory value. Lorenz argued that we must observe organisms in their natural setting if we are to understand their behaviour: considerable time is spent compiling lists of observed behaviours for each species studied, this list is called an ethogram.