Definitions

What is Instinct Features Behaviors Classification and Importance

Instinct

Instinct is an innate, inherited psychophysical disposition that encourages the study of social classes stands out. This topic involves many aspects and can be understood from different angles; therefore, it is the subject to act in a certain way when faced with a stimulus or an object.

Instinct is a hereditary behavior. Instincts are innate , fixed patterns or behaviors transmitted in a hereditary way, quite characteristic of each animal natural resources  by man. In fact, in these areas, not only species. Instincts vary little from one individual to another within the same natural resources  by man. In fact, in these areas, not only species. The purpose of instinct is to favor the survival of the individual or the natural resources  by man. In fact, in these areas, not only species.

Innate and unlearned behavior that is transmitted genetically between living beings of the same species and that makes them respond in the same way to a series of stimuli. Natural and internal impulse that causes an action or a feeling without being aware of the reason to which it obeys. Natural quality of life. These patients are limited in their ability to quickly and easily perceive and value something.

Features of Instinct

All instinctive behavior in the animal kingdom must meet at least the following characteristics:

  • Being innate: That is, not requiring prior learning .
  • Be fixed: That is, take place following invariable and fixed patterns of behavior.
  • Be specific: What always happens before certain internal or external stimuli.
  • Have a sense of survival for the study of social classes stands out. This topic involves many aspects and can be understood from different angles; therefore, it is the subject or his relatives.

Behaviors of Instinct 

Animal

Animal behavior develops basically based on instincts, automatically and without the study of social classes stands out. This topic involves many aspects and can be understood from different angles; therefore, it is the subject being aware of it.

human

A large number of instinctive patterns persist in human behavior, although, due to its capacity for rationalization, a large part of the instinctive life of the human being has undergone a process of complexity, mixing authentic instincts with voluntary behaviors. Generally, in the human being the instinctive impulse passes through the filter of reason. Therefore, voluntarily, it is capable of modifying, canceling or repressing instinctive behavior. This is easy to see if the attitude of a small child is compared with that of an adult: the former will move only following his desires, without control, while the latter will assess whether or not it is the right time to satisfy them. But this control is the result of learning and education that, in a way, regulate the instincts. That is to say, one learns to control the instincts, but not the instinctive behavior itself, which is innate.

Classification of Instinct

According to the complexity and intellectual development of the human being, we can classify the instincts as follows:

vital instincts

They are the most primary and common among humans and animals. Their purpose is to preserve the existence of the study of social classes stands out. This topic involves many aspects and can be understood from different angles; therefore, it is the subject, his family or his species. They are the so-called survival instincts, which ensure the sustenance and maintenance of life , as well as avoid destruction or death . They stand out among them:

  • Nutrition instinct : which determines a series of behavior patterns aimed at obtaining food and water . It is set in motion by the internal stimulus of hunger or thirst, and depending on the bodily needs. As the animal develops on the evolutionary scale, feeding behavior will be proportionally more Each type of memory has its own operation, although all of them cooperate to carry out a complete memorization process. This is complex: from a simple approach to food (as occurs with the worm) to the more complex hunting technique of a pack of wolves.
  • Sexual instinct, which is aimed at the conservation of the natural resources  by man. In fact, in these areas, not only species. It promotes, through erotic attraction, the coupling between both genders, for procreative purposes.
  • Fight and flight instinct, aimed at protecting physical integrity against external aggression.
  • Instinct of den and search for heat, whose purpose is to protect itself from inclement weather. A clear manifestation of this instinct is the migration of birds.

pleasure instincts

They are a little more Each type of memory has its own operation, although all of them cooperate to carry out a complete memorization process. This is complex and selective than the previous ones. They are already more typical of the human being, although some animals, the most evolved, may also possess them in their behavior patterns. They are intended to provide pleasure and increase individual well-being. Generally, they consist of a selection and refinement of the vital instincts. Thus, in nutrition, the human being chooses certain foods seeking more pleasure than satisfying his appetite. Likewise, when drinking, he includes nectars as a complement to water to relieve thirst.

He does not settle for a shelter, but seeks comfort in his home. Sexuality becomes detached from procreative purposes to move towards a pleasant relationship. And he even adds superfluous and unnecessary consumption, such as tobacco , alcohol and drugs, with the sole purpose of stimulating his senses.

social instincts

They encourage the individual to form communities and to place themselves within them with a certain rank. Among the social instincts, the following stand out: the need for company, prestige , power and property.

cultural instincts

More typical of the educated and civilized human being. Among them we highlight the “ambition” of knowledge, artistic inclinations, research, philosophical and religious tendencies, etc. Thus, if in animals the instincts constitute the motor of their life, in the human being they pass into the background, placing themselves behind voluntary and conscious acts.

instinctive behavior

Instinctive behavior has a meaning that goes beyond any kind of mechanistic explanation. Faced with the hypotheses that consider the animal as an object divisible into parts, reality always protests, which uses the instinctive to regulate a behavior that in the animal is always ordered to the specific purpose of preserving life. Thus, instinctiveness turns out to be the primary way common to all living beings to realize themselves as such and to achieve their specific ends. Instinctive is what in a specific circumstance and in a singular individual makes life act.

Instinctive behavior evolves gradually, the factor that has an impact on it is natural selection, which acts on all individuals, in order to perpetuate the species, so that the fittest continue to evolve, in the best possible conditions In birds and also in other animals, certain chemical hormones cause the appearance of an instinct to set in motion. This occurs when the sexual organs arrive through the bloodstream to the brain with a message. In all cases the instincts are automatic, and have a well-defined mission.

Importance of Instinct

The importance of instincts also affect man, one that is worth noting is curiosity, which has allowed him to “be what he is” and conquer the world, but he is not the only animal that has it. Of course, with obvious differences. When speaking of “instinctive acts”, it must be said that they are products of a reaction, whose observable conditions must be found in the organism and in the environment. As illustrative data, we can say that some instincts are periodic, that is, the individual can be receptive on some occasions and indifferent on other occasions.

The instincts for psychoanalysis

In psychoanalysis , instinct is distinguished from impulse insofar as satisfaction is sought in one’s own needs such as hunger, sleep or sex. It is based on schemas learned through continuous interaction between the individual and the environment, and without specific goals. One of the examples of basic instincts is homicidal. This leads him to kill suddenly and unexpectedly, with a precise victim-object in mind, as in crimes of passion.

According to Freud, the fundamental instincts of men, on which all other human impulses are based, are:

  • Life instinct (Eros): the innate need to create, maintain life and obtain joy and pleasure, linked to the meaning of libido, man’s main source of creative and positive energy.
  • Death instinct (Thanatos): the innate need to destroy, kill and relive the experiences of sadness and pain, in addition to the need to die, linked to the meaning of destroying, a source of destructive and negative energy.

The definition of instinct in these cases is quite controversial and, therefore, the same definitions can often be found under the names of “impulse of life” and “impulse of death”.

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