Spiders spin webs to catch prey without being taught. What term best describes this behavior?

Spiders spin webs to catch prey without being taught. What term best describes this behavior?

• A. Innate behavior
• B. Learned behavior
• C. Observational learning
• D. Insight learning

Answer: (A)

Innate behavior is an inborn, instinctive action performed without prior learning. Spiders spin webs to catch prey without being taught, which shows this kind of automatic, species-typical action. It’s a fixed pattern that many individuals of the same species perform in a similar way, triggered by internal states like hunger and environmental cues, and it tends to unfold without trial-and-error practice. Because the behavior is inherited and displayed without training or observation, it fits as an innate response. In contrast, learned behavior relies on experience, practice, or information from others. Observational learning would require watching another spider to learn the technique, and insight learning would involve solving a novel problem through reasoning. Neither of these applies here, since the web-spinning sequence emerges automatically rather than being acquired through learning.

Innate behavior is an inborn, instinctive action performed without prior learning. Spiders spin webs to catch prey without being taught, which shows this kind of automatic, species-typical action. It’s a fixed pattern that many individuals of the same species perform in a similar way, triggered by internal states like hunger and environmental cues, and it tends to unfold without trial-and-error practice. Because the behavior is inherited and displayed without training or observation, it fits as an innate response.

In contrast, learned behavior relies on experience, practice, or information from others. Observational learning would require watching another spider to learn the technique, and insight learning would involve solving a novel problem through reasoning. Neither of these applies here, since the web-spinning sequence emerges automatically rather than being acquired through learning.