ethological explanations for aggression

Question 1

what is an ethological explanation?

Answer 1

• seeks to understand the innate behaviour of animals (inc. non-human animals) by studying them in their natural environment
• aims to account for behaviour in terms of its adaptive value
• ethologists believe that by looking at animal behaviour, this can help us understand human behaviour

Question 2

how do ethological explanations link to aggression?

Answer 2

• aggression is seen in all animals and is innate
• aggression provides an adaptive function
  therefore evolutionary psychologists believe that the behaviour must be beneficial to the organism

Question 3

how can aggression be beneficial/adaptive?

Answer 3

1. aggression can help with survival, by protecting resources, such as land and food
2. aggression can establish dominance hierarchies, which are vital to allow access to resources e.g. females

Question 4

what is a ritual? in behaviour

Answer 4

a series of behaviours carried out in a set order

Question 5

what did Lorenz find about ritualistic aggression?

Answer 5

• most intra-species aggression rarely reaches the point of physical aggression - with species carrying out appeasement displays to indicate acceptance of defeat, allowing the defeated animal to live
• e.g. instead of killing each other, the ‘loser’ will forfeit and establish territory elsewhere
• these behaviours are hard-wired

Question 6

what is an example of an appeasement display?

Answer 6

a wolf will display its neck when defeated, deliberately making itself vulnerable

Question 7

how is ritualistic aggression adaptive?

Answer 7

because if every aggressive encounter ended in death it would threaten the species

Question 8

what does the ethological theory propose that aggression can be a result of?

Answer 8

• innate releasing mechanisms
• fixed action patterns

Question 9

what is an innate releasing mechanism?

Answer 9

built-in physiological process or structure e.g. network of neurons in the brain, that’s activated by an environmental stimulus, leading to a fixed action pattern

Question 10

what is a fixed action pattern?

Answer 10

aggressive behaviours within a species that often follow a set pattern, and are triggered by an innate releasing mechanism
- these patterns are universal to the species and once they are initiated, the animal will keep going until the behaviour is ‘complete’

Question 11

what 6 features did Lea find about FAP?

Answer 11

• stereotyped
• universal
• innate
• ballistic
• single-purpose
• response to stimulus

Question 12

who researched IRP’s and FAP’s in stickleback fish?

Answer 12

Tinbergen

Question 13

outline Tinbergen’s research

Answer 13

• undertook an experiment with male sticklebacks, a species of fish known to be territorial and aggressive
• in the mating season, they develop a red spot on their underside
• Tinbergen observed that at this time, male sticklebacks will attack another that enters their territory
• the red spot acted as an innate releasing mechanism
• when one fish observed another with a red spot, they would initiate the aggressive attack behaviour (FAP)

Question 14

evaluation: there is evidence that aggression is not always ritualistic
+ ELAB

Answer 14

ID: there is evidence that aggression is not always ritualistic
Q: there is research from the animal kingdom to contradict ritualistic aggression
EV: Goodall. studied chimpanzees’ behaviour over a long period, she observed groups of chimpanzees that waged a brutal war against neighbouring groups of chimpanzees, slaughtering all members of the group. she referred to this type of gang behaviour as systematic slaughtering. the violence continued, despite the weaker group offering signs of appeasement and defencelessness.
AN: therefore, this aggression is hard to explain from an ethological standpoint as the signs should be universal. this reduces the external validity of the claim.
ELAB: however, this supports the idea that once a releaser has triggered the IRM, this will always lead to a FAP, and so the releaser is a stronger predictor of aggressive behaviour than appeasement

Question 15

evaluation: however, a more accurate description of FAPs may be ‘modal’ rather than ‘fixed’

Answer 15

ID: however, a more accurate description of FAPs may be ‘modal’ rather than ‘fixed’, as suggested by Hunt (1973).
Q: there is some evidence that learning and environmental factors can create variation within a species
EV: modal action patterns are behaviours that are instinctual such as the desire to chase from dogs, but they differ from one individual within the species compared to others. for example, some dogs may chase cats but some dogs don’t. Hunt. found that the differences in behaviour may be due to training, or species differentiation as a result of selective breeding of characteristics in dogs etc.
AN: therefore, fixed action patterns are more flexible than the term fixed would suggest, resulting in lower validity of the universal nature of FAPs as part of an explanation for aggression

Question 16

evaluation: research support (Tinbergen)

Answer 16

ID: there is research to support IRM and FAP’s
Q: Tinbergen carried out a study on male stickleback fish.
EV: he observed that in the mating season, male sticklebacks will attack another with a red spot, that enters their territory. suggesting that the red spot is the innate releasing mechanism and the attack is the fixed action pattern.
AN: this supports the link between a releaser triggering the IRM, and consistently leading to a FAP, increasing the external validity of the theory, through research support