News tagged with instinct

Instinct

Instinct or innate behavior is the inherent inclination of a living organism toward a particular behavior.

The simplest example of an instinctive behavior is a fixed action pattern, in which a very short to medium length sequence of actions, without variation, are carried out in response to a clearly defined stimulus.

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Study says people are inclined to help others

Feeling generous? Think it over a little and then see how you feel.

Psychology & Psychiatry Sep 25, 2012 | 5 / 5 (2) | 1

Study: We lie when we're short on time or feel justified to do so

(Medical Xpress)—Almost all of us have been tempted to lie at some point, whether about our GPA, our annual income, or our age. But what makes us actually do it?

Psychology & Psychiatry Sep 05, 2012 | 5 / 5 (2) | 0 |

Bias in decision-making leads to poor choices and possibly depression

When faced with making a complicated decision, our automatic instinct to avoid misfortune can result in missing out on rewards, and could even contribute to depression, according to new research.

Psychology & Psychiatry Mar 08, 2012 | 4.7 / 5 (6) | 3 |

What can animals' survival instincts tell us about understanding human emotion?

Can animals' survival instincts shed additional light on what we know about human emotion? New York University neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux poses this question in outlining a pioneering theory, drawn from two decades of research, ...

Neuroscience Feb 22, 2012 | 4.6 / 5 (5) | 8 |

A classic instinct -- salt appetite -- is linked to drug addiction

A team of Duke University Medical Center and Australian scientists has found that addictive drugs may have hijacked the same nerve cells and connections in the brain that serve a powerful, ancient instinct: ...

Medical research Jul 11, 2011 | 4.8 / 5 (11) | 4 |