Final answer:
Behavioral learning theories focus on how behaviors are acquired or modified through experience and include classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. While innate behaviors are instinctual and unchanging, learned behaviors adapt to environmental changes, emphasizing the flexibility and adaptability of organisms in their ecosystems.
Step-by-step explanation:
Behavioral learning theories are part of psychology, specifically the behaviorism tradition, which emphasizes that behaviors are learned and can change through experience. Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning are three basic forms of learning.
Classical conditioning involves learning to associate two stimuli, while operant conditioning involves learning from the consequences of behavior. Observational learning occurs by watching the behaviors of others. Learned behaviors are adaptive and influenced by environmental changes, in contrast to instinctual or innate behaviors which are not influenced by the environment.
Notably, cognitive processes have been increasingly recognized as playing a part in behaviorism, allowing for scientific testing and validation of these theories.
Innate or instinctual behaviors, such as mating systems and communication methods, are intrinsic and not influenced by the environment. On the other hand, learned behaviors, which include habituation, conditioning, and cognitive learning, adapt and change according to environmental stimuli and experiences.
This adaptability of learned behavior is essential for the survival and evolution of a species as it allows organisms to adjust to changing conditions.