Ethnological explanation

• Ethology:

  • Ethology is the study of animal behaviour in natural settings
  • The ethological explanation of aggression seeks to understand the innate behaviour of animals (including humans) by studying them in their natural environments
  • Ethologists study aggression in non-human animals and then generalise their findings to humans because we are all subject to the same forces of natural selection (Darwin, 1859)
• Adaptive functions of aggression :

  • Ethological explanations suggest that the main function of aggression is adaptive
  • This means aggression is beneficial to survival 
  • E.g. if there is competition for food in a particular area, members of one species may act aggressively towards members of another 
  • This means the members of this species have to move to a different area, meaning they can find food elsewhere and there is less competition for food. So both species survive.
• Adaptive functions of aggression:

  • Another adaptive function of aggression is to establish dominance hierarchies
  • E.g. male chimpanzees use aggression to become more dominant and gain special status (e.g. access to resources)
  • Pettit et al. (1988) found that aggression played an important role in the development of some children’s dominance over others
  • This would be adaptive and naturally selected because dominance over others brings benefits such as power and access to resources (e.g. food), leading to survival
• Ritualistic aggression:

  • A ritual is a series of behaviours carried out in a set order
  • Lorenz found that there was very little physical damage done in fights between animals of the same species
  • Most aggressive encounters consisted of mainly ritualistic signalling (e.g. displaying claws/teeth and aggressive facial expressions)
• Ritualistic aggression :

  • These encounters usually end with one animal accepting defeat so that the other animal stops acting aggressively, preventing serious harm/death
  • 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 
• Innate Releasing Mechanisms (IRM) and Fixed Action Patterns (FAPs)

  • The ethological explanation states that all members of the same species have a collection of stereotyped behaviours which occur in specific conditions
  • These are innate
  • These innate behaviours are called fixed action patterns (FAPs)
  • FAPs are produced by a neural mechanism in the brain known as an innate releasing mechanism (IRM)
• Characteristics of FAPs:

  According to Lea (1984), FAPs have six main features:

  • Stereotyped or relatively unchanging sequences of behaviours
  • Universal – because the same behaviour is found in every individual of a species 
  • Unaffected by learning – the same for every individual regardless of learning
• Characteristics of FAPs:

  • Ballistic – once the behaviour is triggered it follows an inevitable course and cannot be altered before it is completed
  • Single-purpose – the behaviour only occurs in a specific situation and not in any other
  • They are a response to an identifiable specific sign stimulus
• Key Study on IRMs and FAPs

  Tinbergen (1951): Procedure

  • Male stickleback are highly territorial during 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 (a FAP)
  • The sign stimulus that triggers the innate releasing mechanism is the sight of the red spot
• Tinbergen procedure:

  • Tinbergen (1951) presented sticklebacks with a series of wooden stickleback models of different shapes
  • Some were shaped like realistic sticklebacks and some were not
  • Only the unrealistically shaped stickleback models had a red spot on their underbelly
• Tinbergen (1951): Findings

  • Regardless of shape, if the model had a red spot the stickleback would display aggression and even attack it
  • But if there was no red spot, there was no aggression, even if the model looked realistically like a stickleback
  • Tinbergen also found that FAPs were unchanging from one encounter to another
  • Once triggered, the FAP would always run its course to completion 
• AO3:

  • A strength of the ethological explanation of aggression is that there is research to support it
  • The ethological explanation suggests that aggression is innate and genetically determined
  • Brunner et al. (1993) found that the low-variant of the MAOA gene is associated with aggressive behaviour in humans
  • This supports the validity of the ethological explanation as it supports its key principle – that aggression has genetic roots and is innate
• AO3:

  • limitation of the ethological explanation of aggression is that it cannot explain cultural differences in aggression
  • For example, Nisbett (1996) found that white males from the south of the USA were more likely to show aggression when insulted than white males from the north were
  • This is a limitation of the ethological explanation of aggression because it fails to explain how culture (e.g. Northern and southern cultures in the US) can override innate influences
• AO3:

  • limitation is that aggression is not always a physically harmless ritual
  • ethological explanation of aggression suggests that aggressive encounters involved signalling but no real physical violence because one animal would usually admit defeat so the aggression would stop
  • However, Goodall's 2010 study in Tanzania showed that male chimps systematically killed all members of another chimp group, even though the victims showed signs of giving up and admitting defeat. This contradicts the idea that aggression is a ritual without physical harm.
• AO3:

  • limitation of the ethological explanation is that FAPs are not as fixed as the theory suggests
  • Hunt (1973) points out that the sequences of behaviours that appear to be innate and fixed are actually learnt from experiences/environment
  • The duration of these behaviours also differs from one individual animal to another
  • This is a limitation of the ethological explanation as it suggests that FAPs may not be completely innate and instead these aggressive behaviours can be learnt
• Ao3:

  • limitation of the ethological explanation of aggression is that it may not be appropriate to generalise findings on animal violence to humans
  • Ethological research, such as Lorenz’s, has rarely looked at higher mammals such as primates 
  • However, Lorenz has generalised his findings from individual animals to the behaviour of entire countries and states
  • Animal aggression may not be a valid explanation for human aggression, as it is more complex and influenced by various factors, including learning.