Science and Human Behavior, Chapter 9: Deprivation and Satiation, Quote 7

“Behavior which is characteristic of a species is attributed to an instinct (of uncertain location or properties) said to be possessed by all members of the species. This is a flagrant example of an explanatory fiction . . . If the instinct of nest-building refers only to the observed tendency of certain kinds of birds to build nests, it cannot explain why the birds build nests.” (p. 157)

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