Aggression : Ethological Explanation

Question 1

Whats ethology?

Answer 1

The study of animal behaviour in natural setting

Question 2

What is the ethnological explanation?

Answer 2

Seeks to understand the innate behaviour of animals (inc humans) by studying them in their natural environment. It tries to account for behaviour in terms of its adaptive value to the specific species. Ethologists believe that the study of animal behaviour helps to understand human behaviour.

Question 3

What do ethologists believe aggression is?

Answer 3

An adaptive function – its seen in all animal species and is believed to be an innate behaviour (evolutionary psychologists say that the behavior must be beneficial to the organism, eg: help survival, protect resources, establish dominance in hierarchies, access to females, etc)

Question 4

Konrad Lorenz

Answer 4

Regarded as the founder or ethology.

Question 5

How did Lorenz define aggression?

Answer 5

“The fighting instinct in beasts and man that is directed against members of the same species.”

Question 6

What are some assumptions of aggression?

Answer 6

• Its an instinct. Occurs in all members of a species without need for learning, its innate and mostly genetically determined
• We can study non-human animals and extrapolate to humans because we’re all subject to the same laws of natural selection

Question 7

Whats the main function of aggression?

Answer 7

To be adaptive…
- After an aggressive encounter, the lower is rarely killed and instead moves to another area. This is adaptive as it spreads individuals out over an area which reduces competition for resources.
- Allows for formation of dominance hierarchy as establishing dominance gains benefits such as mating rights. This dominance also reduces the incidents of aggression between individuals.

Question 8

What is dominance hierarchy?

Answer 8

Where the most dominants are at the top, and those lower know not to interfere. Many species have this type of hierarchy suggesting it must be adaptive.

Question 9

Did Lorenz think humans were aggressive?

Answer 9

Lorenz felt that humans were like doves (non-hunters therefore don’t fight and instead fly away at conflict), but developed aggression through weapons and destruction

Question 10

What did Pettit et al (1988) find?

Answer 10

Pettit et al (1988) studies play groups of young children and observed that aggressive interactions were an important aspect of how some children gain dominance over others.

Question 11

What is ritualistic aggression?

Answer 11

A ritual is a serious of behaviours carried out in a set order. Most aggressive interactions consist of ritualistic signaling (snarling, displaying claws, pushing contests) and rarely becomes physical as in the animal kingdom, injuries are often fatal on both ends.

Question 12

What did Lorenz find with animal aggression?

Answer 12

Lorenz (1966) observed that in fights between animals, injury was rare – which suggests that intra-species aggressive confrontations end with a ritual appeasement display. These are thought to indicate acceptance of defeat and inhibit any further aggression (thus preventing actual injury). This is adaptive because if aggressive encounters ended with injury or death, it could threaten the existence of the species.

Question 13

Whats appeasement display?

Answer 13

A ritualistic signal that means surrender.

Question 14

Schenkel (1967) on appeasement display?

Answer 14

suggests that ‘submissive’ pose is a challenge that leads to further fighting.

Question 15

What are IRM’s?

Answer 15

Innate releasing mechanism – biological structure or process (in the brain) which is activated by an external stimulus that triggers a fixed action pattern.

Question 16

What are FAP’s?

Answer 16

Fixed Action Patterns – sequence of stereotyped preprogrammed behaviours triggered by an innate releasing mechanism

Question 17

What’re the features of FAPs (Lea 1984)?

Answer 17

• Stereotyped (unchanging sequence)
• Universal within the species
• Unaffected by learning
• ‘Ballistic’ – once they’ve started, they must be continued
• Single purpose – only occurs in one type on situation
• A response to an identifiable and specific stimulus – a releaser

Question 18

Tinbergen’s1951 sticklebacks?

Answer 18

Male stickleback fish are very territorial during the mating season and develop a red belly. If another male enters their territory, a FAP is released in response to the releaser/ sign stimulus of the colour red. Tinbergen presented the fish with wooden models in different shapes. He found that regardless of shape, if there was a red spot, the stickleback would attack it and if there wasn’t, it wouldn’t.

Question 19

Whats are the strengths of the ethnological explanation?

Answer 19

• Arguments from genetics suggest an innate basis to aggressive behaviour, suggesting the ethologies approach

Question 20

What are the limitations of the ethnological explanation?

Answer 20

• Certain species it appears the aggression is more than just ritualistic → Jane Goodall (2010) investigated chimpanzees at the Gombe Stream National park in Tanzania. In the ‘four year war’ male chimps in one community set about systematically slaughtering all the members of another group. This does not fit with Lorenz’s assertions and therefore challenges his suggestion about the role of appeasement signals and ritualistic aggression.
• Lim of the theory of fixed action patterns is that modern research has suggested it may be out of date as they are not necessarily innate or unchanging → Hunt (1973) suggested FAPs influenced by environmental factors and learning experiences. Eg, an aggressive FAP is made up of several behaviours in a series. The duration can also vary from individuals.
• Ignores the rule of culture → Nisbett (1993) found a north-south divide for homicide in USA with southern states having higher homicide rates. This was only true of reactive aggression triggered by arguments. This provides evidence that cannot be explained by the ethological approach and shows how potentially culture can override innate influences.