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Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing innate (inborn) elements.The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a very short to medium length sequence of actions, without variation, are carried out in response to a corresponding clearly defined stimulus.
A behavior may be learned socially, but the fact that it was learned socially does not necessarily mean it will last. The fact that the behavior is rewarding has a role in cultural stability as well. The ability for socially-learned behaviors to stabilize across generations is also mitigated by the complexity of the behavior.
"Fixed action pattern" is an ethological term describing an instinctive behavioral sequence that is highly stereotyped and species-characteristic. [1] Fixed action patterns are said to be produced by the innate releasing mechanism, a "hard-wired" neural network, in response to a sign/key stimulus or releaser.
A learned behavior is one that does not come from instincts- it is created by practice or experiences. [2] Learned behavior can be controlled by two systems- reflective or reflexive, which in turn create cognitive learning and habitual learning. [2]
While some species-typical behavior is learned from the parents, it is also sometimes the product of a fixed action pattern, also known as an innate releasing mechanism (IRM). In these instances, a neural network is 'programmed' to create a hard-wired, instinctive behavior in response to an external stimulus.
It posits that subsequent selection might reinforce the originally learned behaviors, if adaptive, into more in-born, instinctive ones. Though this process appears similar to Lamarckism, that view proposes that living things inherited their parents' acquired characteristics. The Baldwin effect only posits that learning ability, which is ...
Cultural behavior must involve the use of artifacts. The most famous example in the animal world is the termite stick. The most famous example in the animal world is the termite stick. Some chimpanzees in Tanzania have learned to fish termites out of their nests using sticks.
Instinct is often misinterpreted as intuition. Its reliability is dependent on past knowledge and occurrences in a specific area. [dubious – discuss] For example, someone who has had more experience with children will tend to have better instincts about what they should do in certain situations with them. This is not to say that one with a ...