What are examples of innate behavior?

Unlearned behavior of individual is called innate behavior, for example crying of an infant.

Innate behavior is the one who is not learned by any means (observation, modeling, experience etc.) and to whom individual has not exposed before. Such a behavior is also called “instinctive behavior”. Examples of innate behavior may include:

  • crying; as an infants cries even at the very first moments of his/her life when he/she has not experienced anything yet.
  • response to hot object; when individual comes in contact with hot object incidentally or unwillingly, for example hot iron, he/she unintentionally pulls his body part ( e.g.,finger ) right at the moment. He/she has not learned ever to respond in this way but his/her reflexes innately allow him/her to respond in this way.
  • Emotional expressions may also be innate; studies show that almost all cultures have specific expressions of specific emotions, whether they are exposed to other cultures and media or not. For example, in almost every culture (specially which are studied) frowned face is used to express anger. No culture gives smiley expression for anger.