The upcoming discussion will update you about the difference between instinctive and learned behaviour of animals.
1. Instinctive behaviour evolves gradually and natural selection modifies it to fit in the environment in the best way possible. It forms a sort of species memory and is passed oh generation after generation through the genes.
In case of learned behaviour there is no inherited responsiveness with regard to a situation, but the animal has the ability to modify its behaviour in the light of experience. Such experiences are not passed on to the next generation.
2. Both instinctive and learning ensure adaptive behaviour, the former by selection operating during the history of a species, while the latter during the history of an individual. Instinct equips an animal with a series of adaptive responses which seem to be ready-made at their first performance. This is clearly an advantage for animals with short life-span and little or no parental care
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3. Instinctive behaviour is characterised by rigid, stereotyped responses and patterns of movement. On the other hand, learning results in flexible patterns of response. Learning takes long time and shows variation. Instinctive behaviours are elicited quickly at the arrival of a stimulus.
4. Instinctive behaviour is linked to the development of the animal’s nervous and muscular systems. For example, young birds are often seen making vigorous flapping movements with their wings while still in the nest. Sexual behaviour is instinctive but it is linked with the growth of gonads. It is performed only when there is a certain level of sex hormone in the blood.
Performance of behaviour gets better with practice (that is learning). For example, the development of pecking in newly-hatched chicks provide an interaction between instinctive and learned behaviour. Newly-hatched chicks have inborn (instinct) tendency to peck at objects, but it is done indiscriminately.
After many trials and errors they gradually improve with practice. Thus, instincts are improved through learning. These two processes are, thus, inseparable. Instinct behaviours are depicted in the genes. They are perfected or polished for finer adjustments through learning.