Quote Originally Posted by littleindiangirl View Post
Are you sure it's an instinct? Or a learned behavior? Or a drive? Can you choose to do it or not?

Are you saying reactions are instincts? Or the following action is instinct?

If mothering is an instinct, then why do some mothers not take care of their young? Why do some mothers do unspeakable acts to their young? Why do some mothers do nothing?
I classify as instinct those behaviors whhich are done before I can think about them. The instinct to leap into a pool after my one year old son at the bottom of the pool. Not learned because I had not had to do it before. Not thought about or planned, and quicker than the lifeguards (multiple) present who were also standing by and saw it happen. I have numerous examples of protective instinct and in eahc of them, I was behaving before I knew I was even moving. To me, that is the definition of instinct.

Re: mothers that do not mother-- this happens in all species. I would guess that the instinct to care for one's young can be glitchy. I do not think the absence of instinctive behavior in SOME members of a species means that the behavior is a learned or chosen behavior. I think the lack of instinct is aberrant. (ie, a mother dog that tries to kill her puppies) or maybe a different instinct or drive overrides. I don't know.

As for this:
Are you saying reactions are instincts? Or the following action is instinct?
I think the reaction is the instinct.

See, even in animals, you can habituate an animal not to respond to its instincts. We despook horses. We train dogs not to eat small critters that we don't want them to eat. But we would not say those animals do not HAVE the instinct.