instinct (redirected from instinctual)

instinct /in·stinct/ (in´stinkt) a complex of unlearned responses characteristic of a species.instinc´tive

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death instinct  in psychoanalysis, the latent instinctive impulse toward dissolution and death.

herd instinct  the instinct or urge to be one of a group and to conform to its standards of conduct and opinion.

life instinct  in psychoanalysis, all of the constructive tendencies of the organism aimed at maintenance and perpetuation of the individual and species.

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in·stinct (nstngkt)

n.

1. An inborn pattern of behavior that is characteristic of a species and is often a response to specific environmental stimuli.

2. A powerful motivation or impulse.

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in·stinctive, in·stinctu·al (n-stngkch-l) adj.

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instinct

[in′stingkt]

Etymology: L, instinctus, impulse

an inborn psychologic need, such as life instincts of hunger, thirst, and sex, as well as the destructive and aggressive death instincts.

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instinct

a complex of unlearned responses characteristic of a species.

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herd instinct

the instinct or urge to be one of a group and to conform to its patterns of behavior.

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instinct

Psychiatry Inborn drive An unreasoning response to an environmental cue, attributed to the Freudian id Primary human instincts Self-preservation, sexuality; per some, aggression, ego instincts, heroism, social instincts are also primary instincts. See Death instinct, Id.