ETHOLOGICAL EXP OF AGGRESSION EVAL

Question 1

what are 4 evaluation points for the ethological exp of agg?

Answer 1

+ research support for IRM

• research to show cultural differences in aggression
• research showing aggression is not just ritualistic
• animal studies outdated not applicable to humans

Question 2

what is a strength of the ethological explanation of aggression?

Answer 2

validity of the ethological explanation is supported by evidence

Question 3

what type of evidence supports the ethological explanation of aggression?

Answer 3

evidence that demonstrates the genetic and physiological basis of aggression

Question 4

what evidence is there to support ethological exp?

Answer 4

evidence support innate releasing mechanisms in the brain has been shown to trigger agg behaviour in humans and other animals

Question 5

who conducted evidence into MAOA gene and aggression?

Answer 5

Brunner et al low variant of MAOA associated with aggressive behaviour, suggests innate basis

Question 6

one weakness of the ethological exp of agg is that aggressive behaviour….

Answer 6

differs between cultures

Question 7

who found evidence to show that aggression differs between cultures?

Answer 7

Nisbett

Question 8

what did Nisbett find to show aggression differs between cultures?

Answer 8

north-south divide in US for homicide rates, showed killings more common amongst white males in south

Question 9

what did Nisbett conclude from his study?

Answer 9

concluded that the difference in homicide was caused by a culture of honour, response to impulsive agg was a learned social norm

Question 10

how can you link Nisbett study to ethological theory?

Answer 10

view of aggression as instinctive, to explain how culture can override innate influences, internal validity of the ethological explanation of aggression is decreased

Question 11

there is evidence against what….

Answer 11

ritualistic aggression

Question 12

what evidence is there against ritualistic aggression?

Answer 12

aggression has been evolved into self-limiting and relatively harmless ritual but challenged by observation

Question 13

who researched evidence against ritualistic aggression?

Answer 13

Goodall

Question 14

what did Goodall study and observe?

Answer 14

observations of chimpanzees, during 4 years male chimps from one community set abt slaughtering all the members of the another group

Question 15

victims in Goodall’s experiment showed signs of appeasement but…

Answer 15

violence hit and bit in an attack lasting 20 mins

Question 16

what does Goodall’s experiments show about aggression?

Answer 16

that signals did not inhibit the aggressive behaviour of the chimps

Question 17

Goodall’s evidence against ritualistic aggression lowers the…

Answer 17

credibility of the explanation

Question 18

a limitation of the ethological exp for agg is that Lorenz’s original view is…

Answer 18

outdated and we can question the application of findings to humans

Question 19

what did Lorenz not look at?

Answer 19

didn’t look at higher mammals such as primates

Question 20

what did Tinbergen not look at?

Answer 20

extreme destructive behaviour that occurs often in human agg

Question 21

Lorenz did what from his findings?

Answer 21

extrapolated the findings of behaviour from individual animals to the behaviour of entire countries and states

Question 22

since Lorenz and Tinbergen didn’t thoroughly explore aggression and applied findings to humans, we can question….

Answer 22

the practical application of the explanation as we don’t know if it generalisable to humans