The Ethological Explanation Of Aggression Flashcards
Define Ethology.
- The study of animal behaviour in natural settings
- The findings are then extrapolated to humans because we are all subject to the same forces of natural selection
What does the ethological explanation suggest?
- Ethological explanation suggests that aggression is an innate behaviour
- That the main function of aggression is adaptive
What did Lorenz state that aggression was?
- Aggression is the ‘fighting instinct in beast & man which is directed against members of the same species’
What are is the first adaptive function of aggression?
- To establish dominance hierarchies with the winners of conflicts climbing the social hierarchy
- Dominance over others brings benefits such as access to resources
- (aiding survival & mates - reproduction- so aggression is naturally selected)
What are the other functions of aggression?
- Spreads species out over a wider area without competing for scarce resources
- A defeated animal is rarely killed- they are forced to establish land elsewhere
Define Ritualistic Aggression.
- A series of aggressive behaviours carried out in a set order
- Fights between conspecifics involve little physical damage
- Most aggressive encounters consist of period of ritualisitc signalling: threat displays
What did Lorenz study about ritualistic aggression?
- Observed that fights between animals of the same species produced little actual physical damage.
- Most aggressive encounters consisted of a prolonged period of ritualisitc signalling
- (e.g. displaying claws, teeth & facial expressions of threat)
- Lorenz also pointed out that intra-species aggressive confrontations end w ritual appeasement displays.
- These indicate acceptance for defeat & inhibit further aggressive behaviour in the victor preventing damage to the loser
This is adaptive, because if every aggressive encounter ended with the death of one of the combatants, that could threaten the existence of the species
What is an innate releasing mechanism?
- An inbuilt physiological process or structure
- An environmental stimulus (such as certain facial expressions) triggers the IRM which then ‘releases’ a specific sequence of behaviours
- This behavioural sequence is called a fixed action pattern (FAP)
- According to Stephen Lea FAPS have 6 main features
What are the 6 main features of fixed action patterns?
- Stereotyped or relatively unchanging sequences of behaviours
- Universal- because the same behaviour is found in every individual regardless of experience
- Unaffected by learning- the same for every individual regardless of experience
- Ballistic- once behaviour is triggered it follows an inevitable course & cannot be altered before it is completed
- Single purpose- the behaviour only occurs in a specific situation & not in any other
- A response to an identifiable specific sign stimulus (or if it involves communication between members of the same species, it is known as a releaser)
What was the procedure for Tinbergen’s research?
- Male sticklebacks are highly territorial during the spring mating season, when they also develop a red spot on their underbelly.
- If another male enters their territory a sequence of highly stereotyped aggressive behaviours is initiated (FAP).
- The sign stimulus (particular feature of the stimulus) that triggers the innate releasing mechanism is the sight of the red spot
- Tinbergen presented stickle backs with a series of wooden models of different shapes.
What were the findings of Tinbergen’s research?
- Regardless of shape, if the model had a red spot the male stickle back would aggressively display & even attack it.
- But if there was no red spot, there was no aggression even if the model looked realistically like a stickle back
- He also found that these aggressive FAP’s were unchanging from one encounter to another
- Once triggered, the FAP always ran its course to completion without any further stimulus
Give one strength of the ethological explanation of aggression.
- OS: Strong support from animal research, partcularly work of Lorenz & Tinbergen
- Their studies provide evidence that aggression is an innate behaviour triggered by specific stimuli
- Tinbergens stickleback fish study, supports idea that aggression is a fixed action pattern activated by a sign stimulus
This demonstrates that aggression can be instinctual & biologically determined in non-human animals, which lends some validity to applying similar ideas to human aggression.
Give another limitation to the ethological explanation of aggression.
- OL: Its over reliance on animal research, which raises questions about the generalizability of its findings to human behaviour.
- Much of supporting evidence for ethological explanation comes from studies on animals (non-human) e.g. Lorenz & Tinbergen
These studies provide valuable insights into the biological & evolutionary roots of aggression in animals, but human aggression is far more complex & influenced by a broader range of factors
Give another limitation of the ethological explanation.
- Animal aggression is often driven by instinctive responses to environmental triggers, whereas human aggression is influenced by cultural, social & cognitive factors
- e.g Lorenz’s idea of fixed action patterns & IRMs suggest that aggression in animals is a rigid & automatic response to specific stimuli such as a red belly in sticklebacks
- However human aggression is rarely as automatic or rigid.
- Humans have the capacity for higher order thinking, decision making, & moral reasoning, which allows for greater control & regulation of aggressive impulses
This means that aggression in humans cannot always be explained by biological triggers alone, as it often involves complex social, emotional & psychological influences
