ABSTRACT
IN ordinary speech and psychological literature, the term instinct has been used in several senses; but the term only has value in explanation if it indicates conditions or organizations which are causally related to behaviour. To claim that birds taken to Italy or Newfoundland in closed cages find their way back within a few weeks to the west coast of Britain, by "instinct" does not contribute to the understanding or the explanation of the phenomenon, unless by this term we describe demonstrable conditions or organizations which can be shown to be causally related to this particular event.
