Instinctive Drift vs. Preparedness: What's the Difference?

📚 Instinctive Drift vs. Preparedness: Unlocking the Secrets of Behavior

In the world of psychology, understanding why animals (including us!) behave the way they do is a constant puzzle. Two key concepts that help us unravel this puzzle are instinctive drift and preparedness. They both deal with the interplay between learned behavior and innate tendencies, but from different angles.

🧠 What is Instinctive Drift?

Instinctive drift refers to the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to instinctive patterns. In other words, even if an animal is trained to do something, its underlying instincts can interfere with and eventually override the learned behavior.

• 🐾 Definition: The phenomenon where learned responses are replaced by instinctive behaviors.
• 🐒 Origin: The term was coined by Keller and Marian Breland, animal behaviorists who trained animals for entertainment.
• 🎪 Experiment Example: The Brelands found that a raccoon trained to deposit coins into a piggy bank would eventually start rubbing the coins together and dipping them in and out of the bank, mimicking its natural food-washing behavior.
• ⏳ Time Factor: Instinctive drift occurs over time, as the animal's innate behaviors become more dominant.

🧪 What is Preparedness?

Preparedness, on the other hand, describes the observation that animals are biologically predisposed to learn certain associations more easily than others. Some connections are simply “hard-wired” into their brains due to evolutionary history. Certain associations are more quickly and permanently learned.

• 🧬 Definition: The concept that certain associations are learned more readily than others due to genetic predispositions.
• 🐀 Classic Experiment: John Garcia's experiments showed that rats quickly associate taste with nausea but struggle to associate taste with electric shock. Conversely, they easily associate visual or auditory stimuli with shock.
• 🍎 Survival Advantage: This preparedness is thought to have evolved because it enhanced survival. For example, associating a bad taste with illness helps animals avoid poisonous foods.
• 💡 Evolutionary Basis: Preparedness highlights the influence of evolution on learning abilities.

Comparison: Instinctive Drift vs. Preparedness

Feature	Instinctive Drift	Preparedness
Definition	Learned behavior reverts to instinctive behavior.	Certain associations are learned more easily than others.
Focus	Interference of instinct on learned behavior.	Biological predisposition to learn certain associations.
Outcome	Decline in trained response.	Faster and stronger learning of specific associations.
Example	Raccoon washing coins.	Rats associating taste with nausea.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• 🔄 Instinct vs. Learning: Both instinctive drift and preparedness demonstrate the complex interplay between instinct and learning.
• 🌍 Evolutionary Significance: Preparedness highlights the role of evolution in shaping learning abilities, while instinctive drift reminds us that innate behaviors are always present.
• 🦉 Animal Training: Understanding these concepts is crucial for effective animal training and behavior modification.
• 📈 Applications: They help explain various animal behaviors and can provide insights into human behavior as well.