Understanding Instincts

From time immemorial , the term instinct has been used for an innate disposition or characteristic that makes an organism to respond or to act in such a way that helps him in his adjustment or adaptation including the survival of his species. Consequently instinctive behaviour has been understood as an unlearned species.

During the nineteenth century when Charles Darwin presented his theory that humans are linked to other species , it was also concluded that like their relatives , the behaviour of human beings is motivated by instincts. Inspired by the views of Charles Darwin in 1890 , William James , a Harvard psychologist tried to provide a long list of the human instincts and defined the term instincts in the following way:

"Instinct is usually defined as the faculty of acting in such a way as to produce certain ends , without foresight of the ends , and without previous education in the performance . "

(James , 1969)