Ethological explanation

    Cards (10)

    • Ethology is…
      This is helpful in understanding human aggression because…
      1. It helps to define aggression and looks at how it occurs with other behaviours such as reproduction and threat.
      2. The study of ethology, looking at animals in their natural setting, means we can understand the way it has helped the evolutionary process. This is more difficult with humans in their modern-day habitat.
      3. When animal behaviour is studied in laboratory settings the conditions can be highly controlled, and this is not possible to the same extent with humans.
    • Adaptive functions of aggression…
      • If you win, you show authority/territory, gain resources etc.
      • If you lose, it shows your positioning, and acts to relieve and try again elsewhere.
      • Therefore, species are spread out on land to reduce competition.
      • You would aim to win, as this means you hope of dominant rank, and therefore climb up your social hierarchy.
    • Ritualistic aggression…
      • A series of behaviours carried out in a set order.
      Ritualistic signals can be a way of humans and apes to display their aggression.
      Threats and warnings before physical aggression occurs:
      • e.g. facial expressions – glaring, displaying teeth, etc.
      Lorenz suggested that aggressive confrontations also include rituals at the end.
      • e.g. wolves will display their necks to the end of a fight symbolically allowing humans to be bitten (end of confrontation allows return to fight).
    • Innate releasing mechanisms (IRM)…
      • An innate biological mechanism (eg neurons in the brain) prompts behaviour following the presence of a stimulus (environmental trigger).
      • It holds appeasement cues (e.g. larger animals), which triggers the animal’s brain to prompt aggressive behaviour known as a fixed action pattern (FAP).
      • Lorenz suggested aggression was similar to food, drink, and sleep as we have a drive to satisfy these instincts.
      • (Release build-up – similar to accumulation of motivation in the brain.)
    • Fixed action pattern (FAP)…
      • This is the behaviour that is prompted by an innate releasing mechanism.
      • This is universal within a particular species (e.g. dogs behave the same way on husks).
      • However, Tinbergen found FAPs are specific to one individual but found all species e.g. dogs are not expected to act in the same way as kangaroos.
      • Only universal for an individual within their species.
      • E.g. stickleback fish show the same.
    • Environmental stimulusInnate releasing mechanism (IRM) → Fixed action pattern (FAP)
    • Strengths: +
      Research support - Tinbergen found all the male sticklebacks attacked the models with the red bellies even if they weren’t the right shape but didn’t attack the ones without red bellies. This suggests that aggression during mating season is adaptive because it increases their chances of securing a mate. It also suggests aggressive behaviours is innate and universal within the species (eg all male sticklebacks do it)
    • Strengths: +
      Research done in a natural environment - high mundane realism.
      Real-life application - The more we understand about aggression, the better we can create treatments.
      • Ways of researching aggression that we can’t do with humans
      Animal studies allow for ethical ways to observe aggression that wouldn’t be possible in human research.
    • Weaknesses: -
      Generalise with caution - animal studies have different environments, brain structures, emotions and types of war
      • Ignores individual differences - Findings from one animal species may not apply to another, generalise with caution to humans
      • Not all human behavior is universal - as it is triggered by various things - we may respond differently in different settings. Unlikely that we have innate mechanisms/FAPs in the same way as animals
    • Weaknesses: -
      • Contradictory research - Goodall’s research on chimps found counter-evidence for fixed-action patterns (FAPs). Chimps displayed aggression in a more ritualistic rather than harmful way
      • Hard biological determinism - Ignores free will/no control. Assumes humans must be aggressive to survive.
      • Ignores cultural differences - assumes aggressive behavior is in our genes. Nisbett found that males in southern U.S. states were more likely to commit homicide than those in northern states, suggesting aggression may be learned due to culture rather than innate.