do not serve either the
preservation of the individual or the propagation of the species; and
such a statement is probably true, especially of human instincts.

But even if this objection should not hold, there is another, more
radical one. Neither of these two big "instincts" is a behavior unit
in any sense. Take the "instinct of self-preservation", for example.
It would certainly have to include both feeding and escape from
danger. But feeding and flight from danger do not belong in a single
series {116} of acts; they are two distinct series, and represent two
distinct tendencies. So distinct are they that, as we shall see in the
next chapter, they are antagonistic. If the danger-avoiding tendency
is aroused, the whole feeding and digestive activity is checked for
the time being. The two instincts are antagonistic, in their actual
operation; throw one into action, and you throw the other out. It is
only from an external point of view that the two can be classed
together; in the organization of the individual they are entirely
separate.

Not much different is the "instinct of reproduction". In birds, to be
sure, there is a fairly continuous series of reactions, that begins
with mating, continues with nesting, laying eggs and incubating them,
and ends in the care of the young birds. But in mammals there is no
such continuous series of reproductive acts, but mating comes to a
close and an interval elapses in which there is no behavior going on
that has anything to do with reproduction.

Before giving a detailed list of the various human instincts, we shall
do well to consider emotion, which is closely bound up with instinct.

{117}

EXERCISES

1. Outline the chapter.

2. Explain the differences between these three;

Action governed by instinct.

Action governed by habit.

Action governed by deliberation.

3. What is the objection to each of the following expressions?

(a) "The ex-soldier instinctively saluted when he met an officer
in the street."

(b) "The bee knows by instinct how to construct the honeycomb."

4. Why is it so difficult to find a valid distinction between instinct
and reflex action?

5. Why are instincts more universal and uniform than habits?

6. How is instinct an important matter to consider in a study of
human motives?

7. Show how the behavior of a hungry child of six or eight years
fits the picture of a "loosely organized instinct".

REFE