Instinct

Instinct or innate behavior is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behavior. The simplest example of an instinctive behavior is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a very short to medium length sequence of actions, without variation, are carried out in response to a clearly defined stimulus.

Any behavior is instinctive if it is performed without being based upon prior experience (that is, in the absence of learning), and is therefore an expression of innate biological factors. Sea turtles, newly hatched on a beach, will automatically move toward the ocean. A kangaroo climbs into its mother's pouch upon being born. Honeybees communicate by dancing in the direction of a food source without formal instruction. Other examples include animal fighting, animal courtship behavior, internal escape functions, and the building of nests.

Instincts are inborn complex patterns of behavior that exist in most members of the species, and should be distinguished from reflexes, which are simple responses of an organism to a specific stimulus, such as the contraction of the pupil in response to bright light or the spasmodic movement of the lower leg when the knee is tapped. The absence of volitional capacity must not be confused with an inability to modify fixed action patterns. For example, people may be able to modify a stimulated fixed action pattern by consciously recognizing the point of its activation and simply stop doing it, whereas animals without a sufficiently strong volitional capacity may not be able to disengage from their fixed action patterns, once activated.

Instinct (Dollhouse)

"Instinct" is the second episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Dollhouse and the show's 15th episode overall. The episode was written by Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters and directed by Marita Grabiak, the first in the series she has directed. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 2, 2009.

In this episode, Echo has been imprinted as a mother of a child. However Topher has managed to change Echo on a glandular level, giving Echo strong maternal instincts. This unfortunately causes Echo to be paranoid causing her to kidnap the child. Ballard not only has to find Echo, but is forced to face his past as Madeline Costley, known to Ballard as Mellie, comes back into the Dollhouse for a diagnostic.

Plot

The episode starts with Ballard walking into Topher's office inspecting the chair. Topher walks in and they discuss Echo's current engagement. Topher notes that he has just opened up a new world to imprinting. By making changes to the brain, he can theoretically program it to fight cancer or even be telekinetic.

Instinct (film)

Instinct is a 1999 American psychological thriller film starring Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding, Jr., George Dzundza, Donald Sutherland, and Maura Tierney. It was very loosely inspired by Ishmael, a novel by Daniel Quinn. In the United States, the film had the working title Ishmael. In 2000, the film was nominated for and won a Genesis Award in the category of feature film. This was the first film produced by Spyglass Entertainment after Caravan Pictures shut down.

Plot

The film examines the mind of anthropologist Ethan Powell (Hopkins) who has been missing for a few years, living in the jungle with gorillas. He had been convicted of killing and injuring several supposed Wilderness Park Rangers in Africa, and is sent to prison. A bright young psychiatrist (Gooding) tries to find out why he killed them, but becomes entangled in a quest to learn the true history and nature of humankind. Eventually it is revealed that during the course of his stay with the gorillas, the animals accepted Powell as part of their group and that he was attempting to protect his gorilla family when the rangers arrived and started shooting them. He gets a hearing to reveal the truth, but an attack by a vicious guard causes Powell to stop talking again. At the end of the film, Powell escapes from prison, using a pen to dig out the lock on a window and heads back to Africa.

Shane

Shane may refer to:

People

Media

Companies

See also

Shane (name)

Shane is a masculine given name. It is an Anglicised version of the Irish name Seán, which itself is cognate to the name John.Shane comes from the way the name Seán is pronounced in the Ulster dialect of the Irish language, as opposed to Shaun or Shawn.

Shane is also a popular surname with the prefix "Mc", "Mac", or "O'", to form Anglicized Irish surname patronyms. The surname was first recorded in Petty's census of Ireland (1659), which lists a Dermot McShane (i.e. Son of Shane).

The name Shane became popular through the novel Shane (1949) by Jack Schaefer and its movie adaptation (1953), directed by George Stevens from a screenplay by A.B. Guthrie, Jr.

Variant forms include Shayne.

Shane is sometimes used as a feminine given name, derived not from the Irish name but from the Yiddish name Shayna, meaning "beautiful".

Given name

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Men

Shane (TV series)

Shane is an American Western television series aired in 1966 and based on the 1949 book of the same name by Jack Schaefer (there had also been a 1953 film of the novel, Shane). The series starred David Carradine as the title character. The series, which aired on ABC, was filmed as a continuing story.

Cast

Episode list

DVD release

On March 10, 2015, Timeless Media Group released Shane: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time.

References

External links