Ethological explanations

• Ethological explanation suggests aggression is an adaptive instinct which aids survival:

  • To ensure only the strongest and fittest males pass on their genes
  • To disperse members of a species more widely so territorial resources are exhausted less quickly
  • To help maintain hierarchies in socially organised animals
• Believes that animals are born with an innate releasing mechanism which is a built in structure in the brain when triggered by a sign stimuli (environmental trigger) causes a series of fixed action patterns to occur.
• Fixed action patterns are a sequence of stereotyped pre-programmed behaviours triggered by an innate releasing mechanism.

  Examples are exposing teeth or claws, facial expression of threat and making yourself look bigger.
• Fixed action patterns are known as ritualistic signalings and are designed to deter another male from entering an animals territory.
• Lorenz believed these behaviours re not designed to entice actual pysical fights as that would not be adaptive and in fact animals rarely engage in fighting as they do not want to kill another animal.
• Animals will show appeasment displays whereby they signal to the other animals that they surrender
• Ritualistic signals occur for a certain amount of time as fixed action patterns only have a certain amount of action-specific energy dedicated to them and after the aggressive action has been completed there will be a reduction in aggressive behaviour as energy resources will be used up.
• Lorenz believed that ritualistic signals can only occur for a certain amount of time as fixed action patterns only have a certain amount of action-specific energy dedicated to them which has been built up overtime
• The appropriate sign stimulus causes the innate releasing mechanism to release this energy and the animal then performs the fixed action pattern
• If the action-specific energy is high enough, the fixed action pattern may be produced even if there are no sign stimuli.

  The animal continues to show the fixed action pattern until it has fun its course even if the sign stimulus has gone away
• AO3 - genetic explanations support

  Genetic explanations support the idea that aggression is innate, further support, MAOA gene.

  The response of the amygdala also adds support to innate releasing mechanism
• AO3 - ritualised aggression

  Evidence to suggest that ritualised aggression serves as a way of preventing gutter more dangerous aggression endangering life, aiding survival of genes.

  Anthropological research found tribe rituals have a way of reducing actual aggression
• AO3 - hydraulic model criticism

  Lorenz thought that once the aggressive action had been completed there would be a reduction in biological energy and reduce a likelihood of aggression.

  However research has shown that the performance of aggressive behaviour could provide further stimulus which makes further aggressive more likely
• AO3 - problem

  Killing members of own species

  Goodall found male chimpanzees worked together to systematically slaughter another group of male chimpanzees even though they showed appeasement displays.

  Contradicts the explanation