The ethological explanation Flashcards
What is the ethological explanation for aggression
-Suggests that aggression is adaptive.
Why do animals adapt to be aggressive?
-Aggression is adapted due to it being beneficial to survival
-defeated animals are rarely killed but are forced to migrate to different areas which increases the spread of species and less chance of starvation.
What did Gregory Petit (1998) find about how young children use aggression
-studied young children and observed how aggression was an important role in the development of dominance hierarchies.
-This would be naturally selected as dominance allows access to greater resources.
Why do chimps use aggression?
-aggression creates dominance hierarchies.
-Chimpanzees use aggression to ascend the hierarchies.
What is ritualistic aggression?
-Konrad Lorenz (1966) found that little damage happened in fights of animals of the same species. Instead it would involve period of ritualistic signalling e.g. barring their teeth or barking and also end with appeasement displays e.g. wolf exposing its neck to the victor which indicates acceptance of defeat.
-This is adaptive if each fight ended in death the species would face extinction.
What is a Innate releasing mechanism?
- an hard-wired process or structure e.g. neurons which when triggered by an environmental stimulus produces a sequence of behaviours- fixed action patterns (FAP)
What are fixed actions patterns?
Fixed action patterns are a sequence of stereotyped pre-programmed set of behaviours triggered by an innate releasing mechanism
What was Tinbergen’s stickleback research?
- studied male sticklebacks during their mating period where they are highly territorial and develop a red spot on their underbelly. If another male stickleback enters their territory a FAP is released. The sign stimulus is if the male stickleback has got a red spot. Tinbergen presented the stickleback with different shaped wooden sticklebacks
-Regardless of shape, if the fish had a red spot, the stickleback would attack the fish, but without the spot they would not. FAP’s would continue till they ran their course and were unchanging.
What did Stephen Lea (1984) say the 6 features of FAP’s are?
Stereotyped- unchanging sequences of behaviour
Universal- found in every individual of that species
Ballistic- once the behaviour is triggered it cannot be stopped
Unaffected- the same for individual regardless of experience
Single-purpose- the behaviour only occurs in a specific situation
Releaser- a response to an identifiable specific sign stimulus.
What are strengths for the ethological explanation of aggression?
Research support from genetics and evolution: Han Brunner et al. (1993) showed that MAOA-L gene is closely associated with aggressive behaviours in humans. Adoption studies and twin studies show there is a genetic component in aggression in humans. This research shows there is an innate basis to aggressive behaviour
-However, Cultural relativity (differs between cultures):Richard Nisbett (1993) found that 1 type of homicide(reactive aggression) was more common amongst white men in South USA thanin northern states. Nisbett concluded this was because of “culture of honour” in the southern US which is not in the North US. Therefore, the aggrressive behaviour was a learned social norm as opposed a genetic basis.
What are weaknesses for the ethological approach?
-Ritualistic aggression against same species is not ritualistic: Jane Goodall (2010) observed a 4 year war during male chimps from different communities would kill eachother in a systematic way. Violence would continue even after victims showed appeasement which did not inhibit the aggressive behaviour as predicted by ethological approach. This challenges the ethological proposal of ritualistic aggression as harmless.
-FAP is outdated: Lorenz saw FAP’s as innate and unchanging. Hunt (1973) stated that FAPs are affected by the environment and learning experiences.However, the Pattern changes in duration and behaviour from each situation in the same individual. They are now named modal behaviour patterns as they are modifiable by experiences. Therefore FAP are more flexible.
