Agression- Ethnological Explanations

Question 1

Define Ethology

Answer 1

The study of animal behaviour in natural settings

Question 2

What are the two elements of the ethnological approach?

Answer 2

-Aggression is instinctual- occurs in all members of species without the need for learning, it is innate and mostly genetically determined
-Ethologists study aggression in non human animals and extrapolate their findings to humans because we are all subject to the same forces of natural selection

Question 3

What are innate releasing mechanisms?

Answer 3

Is a response to a specific stimulus: the process is instinctive

Question 4

What are IRMs comprised of?

Answer 4

Neural network in the brain i.e. they are inbuilt biological structures

Question 5

Are IRMs Conspecific or Allospecific?

Answer 5

Both, conspecific (signalled to members of the same species) or allospecific (signalled to animals of different species)

Question 6

Give some examples of IRMs

Answer 6

-Male sticklebacks signal aggression via their red underbellies: this triggers an IRM in another male stickleback who may respond by also showing aggression or by moving away from the threat (Tinbergen, 1951)
-Dog chasing a cat

Question 7

What is a fixed action pattern (FAP)

Answer 7

-Set of instinctive behaviours in a species
- They are a sequence of actions that respond to a stressor or cue (stimulus)

Question 8

Do FAPs regularly change?

Answer 8

No

Question 9

Are FAPs innate?

Answer 9

Yes

Question 10

What are lea’s features of FAPs?

Answer 10

Stereotyped- behaviour always occurs in the
same
Universal- the behaviour is the same conspecific
Independent, individual behaviour- the behaviour is innate
Ballistic- once triggered the FAP cannot be changed/ stopped
Specific triggers- each FAP has a specific trigger

Question 11

What was the aim of tinbergens experiment?

Answer 11

To provide research support/ evidence for IRMs and FAPs

Question 12

What was the procedure of tinbergens experiment?

Answer 12

A male stickleback in a tank was presented with an array of fake fish (imitations) with/without red underbellys

Question 13

What was the findings of tinbergens experiment?

Answer 13

Fish attacked all objects with red bellys

Question 14

What is the purpose of ritualistic aggression?

Answer 14

To show that they are a threat

Question 15

Give an example of humnan ritualistic aggression

Answer 15

NZ Haka

Question 16

What are the purposes of FAPs and IRMs?

Answer 16

Have adapted to become useful for survival

Question 17

What are they linked to?

Answer 17

Territorial behaviours

Question 18

Give a strength (animal studies)

Answer 18

-Tinbergen, male sticklebacks, very aggressive, territorial species
-Mating season= red spot on the underside
-During this time male sticklebacks attack other males when they enter their territory
-Red spot is an innate releasing mechanism, they initiate the aggressive attack behaviour which is an example of a fixed action pattern
-To test this he presented male sticklebacks with a wooden model, if the wooden male had a red spot they would attack
-However, without a red spot no reaction/ aggression is displayed
-Different environments may have innate releasing mechanisms + fixed action patterns because it is useful to their situation
-Although animal research cannot be generalised to humans

Question 19

Give a strength (evidence supporting the biological approach)

Answer 19

-Evidence supporting the biological, innate basis of IRM + FAP systems
-Brenner- link between MOAO activity and levels of aggression as evidence for the herribility of IRM and FAP
-Due to aggressive behaviour being triggered by increased levels of testosterone which must have been preceeded by exposure to releaser/ signal which the IRM had triggered
-Therefore the role of the limbic system and IRM can be considered ad valid explanations of aggression

Question 20

Give a critiscm (cultural variation)

Answer 20

-Cultural variation
-Aggressive behaviour is more common in some cultures than others
-Nisbett- North and south divide in the US for homicidal rates, with more killings in the southern states
-Concluded this was a result of a culture of honor where response to social aggression was a learned social norm
-Difficult for the ethological theory to explain how culture can overide innate influences

Question 21

Give an evaluation point (evidence from the animal kingdom)

Answer 21

-Evidence from the animal kingdom that aggression is not always ritualistic
-Goodall studied chimpanzee behaviour for over 50 years
-She observed groups of chimpanzees wage a brutal war against neighbouring groups (slaughtered all members of the group
-This is hard to explain from the ethological perspective as the risk of injury to the attacking group is high and does not appear to be an adaptive behaviour
-Unethical to study animals
-Links to the nature vs. nurture debate