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Development evolving: the origins and meanings of instinct
Author(s) -
Blumberg Mark S.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: cognitive science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.526
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1939-5086
pISSN - 1939-5078
DOI - 10.1002/wcs.1371
Subject(s) - instinct , herding , psychology , cognitive science , sociobiology , environmental ethics , epistemology , ecology , philosophy , biology , history , archaeology
How do migratory birds, herding dogs, and navigating sea turtles do the amazing things that they do? For hundreds of years, scientists and philosophers have struggled over possible explanations. In time, one word came to dominate the discussion: instinct . It became the catch‐all explanation for those adaptive and complex abilities that do not obviously result from learning or experience. Today, various animals are said to possess a survival instinct, migratory instinct, herding instinct, maternal instinct, or language instinct. But a closer look reveals that these and other ‘instincts’ are not satisfactorily described as inborn, pre‐programmed, hardwired, or genetically determined. Rather, research in this area teaches us that species‐typical behaviors develop —and they do so in every individual under the guidance of species‐typical experiences occurring within reliable ecological contexts. WIREs Cogn Sci 2017, 8:e1371. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1371 This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Genes and Environment Psychology > Comparative Psychology Neuroscience > Development