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Paper 3
Aggression
Ethological explanation
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Created by
Issy
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Cards (8)
ethological
approach
studies
natural
animal behaviour
adaptive functions of aggression
aggression is an adaptive response which is beneficial for
survival
establishes
social hierarchies
within a group of animals
most
dominant male
exerts power over others- gaining status e.g. has
mating rights
over females
ritualistic aggression
ritual- carrying out certain
behaviours
in a specific order
certain ritualistic displays of aggression can be seen before a fight
used to scare off
opponents
- growling, bearing teeth/claws
defeated animal- cowering and whimpering
work to display
winner
of the fight- rarely kill each other
innate releasing mechanisms
and
fixed action patterns
IRMs
- built in psychological processes/ structures
once triggered, they activate a certain sequence of behaviours which an animal is compelled to carry out- fixed action patterns
fixed action patterns:
BRUSH
B-
ballistic
- inevitable course which must be completed
R- response to s specific stimuli which is seen as a threat
U-
universal
to species
S-
stereotypical
- unchanging set of behaviours
H- hasn't been learnt
supporting evidence
roles of
innate releasing mechanisms
and
fixed action patterns
when male
sticklebacks
where presented with a series of models, they would attack the
same
wat
shape doesn't affect this only colour
supports the idea that members of the same species have the same innate releasing mechanism that is triggered by a threatening stimulus
limitation
criticised for the idea that behaviour patterns between
specieces
are fixed
hunt
argued that Lorenz underestimated the role of the environment in developing these behaviour patterns
learning interacts with
innate
factors
contradictory evidence
Goodall
observed chimps at a national park in
Tanzania
aggression
of 2 rival communities of male chimps wasn't impulsive but coordinated
one group of males slaughtered the other community in a gang fashion
ignored victims signals of defeat
questions whether animal aggression is ritualistic
limitation
findings cant be
generalised
to explain human
aggression
humans
are more complex than animals and show a wide range of aggressive behaviours- impulsive and non-impulsive
cant be generalised to humans, so doesn't explain aggression