A Critique of Konrad Lorenz's Theory of Instinctive Behavior

Abstract

According to the theory under criticism an instinctive behavior reaction is a result of an accumulation of energy in a neural center capable of determining the form and order of performance of the various movements of the act, independently of the receptors, except for a trigger-like elicitation required to touch off the reaction. The following criticisms are offered: (1) The Lorenz theory is rigidly canalized by the merging of widely different kinds of organization under inappropriate, gratuitous categories. (2) It involves preconceived and rigid ideal of innate-ness and the nature of maturation. (3) It habitually depends on the transfer of concepts from one level to another solely on the basis of analytical reasoning. (4) It is limited by preconceptions of isomorphic resemblances between neural and behavioral phenomena. (5) It depends on finalistic, preformationist conceptions of the development of behavior itself. (6) As indicated by its application to human psychology, it leads to, or depends on, a rigid pref ormatlonlst, categorical conception of development and organization. Any theory which regards " instinct" as immanent, preformed, inherited, or based on specific neural structures is bound to divert the investigation of behavior development from fundamental analysis and the study of developmental problems.