Ethological Explanation Of Agression

Question 1

Ethological

Answer 1

Study of animals in their natural environment to understand evolution of behaviour.

Question 2

The ethological explanation of aggression

Answer 2

Defines aggression as a INSTINCT common to humans and animals. It suggests that aggressive behaviour have evolved as adaptive responses to specific environmental challenges

Question 3

environment of evolutional adaptiveness (EEA)

Answer 3

Behaviour witness today would have been involved as a reaction to the environment 10,000 to 5 million years ago.

Question 4

Why is aggression important in this explanation

Answer 4

Aggression at this time would have helped an individual survive, as aggression would ensure resources, food, territory and women.

Question 5

Adaptive function of aggression

Answer 5

The ecological explanation suggests that the main function of aggression is adaptive.
Aggression is beneficial to survival because a ‘defeated’ animal is rarely killed but rather is forced to establish territory somewhere else. This means that members of a species spread out over a wider area and have to discover resources in a different place which reduces competition pressure and possibly starvation.

Another adaptive function of aggression is to establish dominance hierachies. Male chimpanzees use aggression to climb their trrops social hierarchy. Dominance gives them a SPECIAL STATUS (e.g mating rights over females)- this happens in humans too.

Question 6

Gregory petit et al(1988)

Answer 6

Gregory petit et al studied groups of young children and observed how aggression played an important role in this development of dominance hierarchy. This would be adaptive ( thus naturally selected) because dominance over others bring benefits such as access resources (e, g food/meat)

Question 7

Ritualistic aggression

Answer 7

A ritual series of behaviour carried out in a set order. Lorenzo (1966) observed that fights between animals of the same species produced with little actual physical damage. Most aggressive encounter consisted of a prolonged period of ritualistic signalling (e.g displayomg claws and teeth, fasical expression of threat) .

Furthermore, lorenzo pointed out that intra species aggressive confrontation end with ritual apppeasement displays ( expressing frustration) - these indicate acceptance of defeat and inhibit further aggressive behaviour in the victor, preventing any damage to the loser.
For instance, at the end of an aggressive confrontation a wolf will expose it’s neck to the victor, a submissive confrontation gesture making itself vunerbale to a single bite to its jugular vein. This is adaptive because every aggressive encounter ended with death of one of the combatants that could threaten the existence of species.