 Attempts to explain complex, developed behavior by reference to preexisting impulses and instincts had already been attacked by James (e.g., in “Habit”, James 1890: chapter 4) and Dewey continued the assault. Such explanations fail to consider instinct’s plastic and pliable character. Across a variety of individuals, instincts considered simple or basic are anything but—they blossom into many different habits and  customs.[6]  They also fail to see that instincts are not pushing an essentially passive creature, but are actively taken up in diverse circumstances, for diverse purposes. As with “stimulus”, the meaning of any “instinct” depends on contextual factors, which can include both biological and socio-linguistic responses. But, in a phrase, there is no psychology without social psychology, no possible inquiry into pure, biological instincts (or any other “natural” powers) which does not also consider both the social and environmental context of the phenomena studied and the inquiry’s own context. Instincts/impulses are interactive phenomena-in-environment, and must be appreciated as transactions (HNC, MW14: 66).