Instinct

What are the instincts? Definition:

Instincts are innate, relatively rigid behaviors that occur automatically in certain situations and without conscious, cognitive effort. An exact, universal definition is difficult, as the term 'instinct' has not only been used in different contexts throughout history, but has also been used as a synonym for 'instinct', 'reflex' and 'erboordination'. In everyday language instinct, on the other hand, signifies an intuitive feeling.

From a biological point of view, instincts fulfill vital functions. It is understandable that there is a lack of experience for the newborn shortly after birth. Without instincts animals in this early phase would be easy prey for predators. But evolution has produced many different instincts: For example, ungulates try to get up shortly after birth to follow their own flock. Turtles seek water immediately after hatching. Rabbits freeze in fear, making them harder to spot for the predator or thought to be dead.

But even in adult animals instincts still fulfill their function. Nesting in birds, communicating among bees and returning fish to their birthplace for reproduction. All of this is intuitive and without learning experience.

Without any instincts, a considerably higher mortality rate should be assumed. But how these behaviors in the organism ultimately represent (in the sense of 'stored') are (genetic and neurobiological), the behavioral research, including its neighboring disciplines, can not yet unambiguously uncover.

Instincts: examples from the animal world

 Escape behavior in nesters, especially ungulates.

 Licking newborns by the mother (against predators).

 Escape instinct in humans, e.g. in mass panic.

 Balzverhalten and Nestbau in birds.

 Wasps and bees regularly feed the larvae of their nest.

 Fish swim back to the birthplace to spawn.

 Freshly hatched turtles instinctively seek the sea.

 Swan dance as a communication form of honeybees.

 Mammals instinctively seek the mother's teats.

Summary

Instincts (or hereditary coordinations) are innate behaviors that essentially serve to preserve one's own species.