ethological explanation of aggression Flashcards
ethological explanation
attempts to understand aggression in humans by looking at aggression in animals in their natural environment
aggression is innate and has evolved through natural selection so genetically determined- enables survival
why are animals aggressive
aggression helps animlas gain and maintain food, partners and territory`
ritualistic
an innate response which a specie displays to threaten or deter their opponent to protect their territory or resources. done not to harm but to scare or threaten for example teeth baring in dogs
this occurs if harmful and death caused to species It could threaten the existence of species.
fixed action pattern fap
aggression is a fap. its an automatic and adaptive set of behaviours that’s triggered by the irm in response to a specific sign stimulus. all members of a species how the same pattern of behaviour and cant be stopped when once initiated, called ballistic.
innate realsing mechanism
an inbuilt biological mechanism which is activated in response to a specific stimulus. it is a network of neruons in the brain that identifies a threatening stimulus in the environment.
a set of neurons that produces fap in response to specific sign stimuli. the irm includes sensory, relay and motor neurons.
hard wired brain networks that respond to specific stimuli by initiating fap- ADD EXAMPLE
process
an environmental or sign stimulus activates the irm which triggers a fap.
once this is triggered and resources are released, it cant be released again as its limited and needs time to replenish so once depleted can t carry out behaviour.
Evaluation + tinbergen male sticklebacks and aggression
p- there is research evidence supporting the the ethological explanation of aggression.
ev- this is because tinbergen found that male sticklebacks would attack and be aggressive towards another stickleback model if it had a red underside belly. a fake fish with no red underbelly did not make the stickleback attack.
ex- this matters because it implies that the red spot was the innate realising mechanism which would initiate aggressive behaviour called the fixed action pattern. the stickleback would attack anything red displaying the same set of aggressive bevaiours each time. the red spot is a specific sign stimulus that activated the fixed action pattern of being aggressive. this supports the idea of the ethological explanation that aggression is an innate fixed action pattern.
therefore, this research increases the validity of this explanation.
- by goodall= chimps
p- there is reserach evidence that refutes the theological explanation of aggression showing that aggression isn’t always ritualistic
ev- this is because goodall found that chimps started war and slaughtered members of neighbouring chimps
ex- this matters because it suggests gang behaviour from chimps that is difficult to explain with theethological explanation theory as it goes against the idea of ritualistic. thus, showing that some ritualistic aggression is apart of killing that reduces the survival of that species. the theological explanation suggests ritualistic aggression is to threaten or deter opponent and not harm therefore this research goes against this theory of aggression as it claims the opposite of being adaptive.
problem for theory as it shows aggression isn’t always adaptive.
therefore reducing the validity of this explanation of aggression.
- by nisbett et al, cultural diffs in aggressive behaviours
p- there is resreach evidence that shows cultural differences in aggressive behaviour
ev- this is because nisbett et al found that when white males from southern us were insulted they were more likely than northern white males to become aggressive.
ex- this matters because it shows that there is a difference towards aggressive behaviour that’s caused by culture. this means that this research goes against the ethologcial explanation of aggression as it fails to explain how culture can override innate influences and cultural variations in aggression. theory cant account for cultural diffs in aggression as it says aggression is genetically determined, not by culture.
therefore, the theological explanation cant be explained for other cultures thus cannot be generalised.
- limitation generalisability
p- limiation of this theory is that research into this is based on studies of aggression in other animals
ev- for example tingerbern stickleback fish
ex- this is a limiation because we are generalsing the results from animals studies to humans. thereofre lacks generalisability. even though aggression is fap in fish humans behave differenly fro fish as behaviours more complicated so may not display aggression in same way e..g some psycally and soeme verbally aggressive. in humans genetics and enironemntal factors may aloso influcne human aggression like how we have beem brought up. our brains also diff so cant be sure the behaviours of aggression would be the same in both.
thereofre we should be cautious about making generalisations.
