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The Study of Instinct

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This book is a review of scientific understanding of animal behavior circa 1950. Tinbergen was the leading animal behavior researcher of the times, and he prepared this general summary of scientific research on instinctive behavior in animals originally as a set of lectures given at Columbia University in 1947. Topics covered include: ethology, behavior as a reaction to external stimuli or internal factors, and the development, adaptiveness and evolution of behavior. Tinbergen was well known for his research on herring gulls and stickleback fish, and he uses many examples from his research on these species in this book. The other animals featured are mainly fish, birds, and insects, with very few mentions of mammals. Tinbergen purposefully steers clear of human behavior, since human behavior so often involves learning, which he classifies as a higher process, a secondary modification of innate mechanisms, which cannot be understood until the primary innate mechanisms have been studied in humans. The book is illustrated throughout with black-and-white drawings and photographs, often reproduced from the original scientific works cited in the text. End material includes an extensive bibliography, an author index, and a subject index.

Tinbergen's style can be rather dry, but he does a masterful job at tying in many different research results to construct a coherent picture of the broader topic. With behaviorism at its peak in the 1950s, this book must have been highly influential. Many of the behaviors that Tinbergen describes would be ideal examples for the behaviorism school: an animal is exposed to a stimulus and reacts automatically in a predictable fashion. Even some apparently random behaviors can be predictable given the genetic program of the animal. Where the book differs from strict behaviorism is that Tinbergen does not claim that all behavior can be explained by stimuli of some sort. He takes great care to point out that higher processes, such as learning displayed by humans, cannot even be studied (let alone explained by behaviorists) until all innate behaviors are well understood. Not only does Tinbergen review research results in this text, but he also provides some pointers for how to conduct behavioral research. For example, he warns researchers not to focus on the question of "What can I do with this method?", but rather on "What method is best suited for studying this behavior?". Although the research in this book is dated, the book is still well worth reading for developing a background understanding of early research on instinctive behaviors in animals, as well as understanding some of Tinbergen's approach to research in ethology.

This is an incredibly important book. It is a clear and systemetic discussion of the beginnings of ethology by one of its founders. Too bad it is out of print. I really hope the publisher makes it available via print on demand technology so I can have a private copy.