Inherited or genetically coded responses to environmental stimuli are referred to as what?

The term used to describe inherited or genetically coded responses to environmental stimuli is instincts. Instincts are innate behaviors that organisms are born with, allowing them to react to specific stimuli without prior experience or learning. These behaviors are essential for survival and can include mating rituals, feeding habits, and other essential functions that are crucial for the species.

In contrast, behaviors can encompass a wider range of actions, both learned and innate. Reflexes are specific automatic responses to stimuli, which are often immediate and do not require conscious thought, but they are not necessarily inherited in the same way instincts are. Responses generally refer to any reaction to a stimulus and do not imply the genetic basis that instincts do.

Thus, instincts specifically denote those responses that are pre-coded in the genetics of the species and arise naturally as a result of evolutionary adaptation.