Ethological

Question 1

Outline ethnological explanations of aggression (6)

Answer 1

Ethnologists study the behaviour patterns shown by animals in their natural environment. Ethological explanations for aggression suggest that aggression is adaptive and beneficial for survival. Ethologists such as Lorenz suggested that all members of the same species have innate/stereotypical behaviours that occur in certain conditions (from specific environmental stimuli). These are called fixed action patterns and are produced by neural mechanisms known as innate releasing mechanisms. Research by Tinbergen showed that male sticklebacks all produced a fixed sequence of aggressive actions when another male entered its territory, supporting the fixed actions patterns theory. Ethologists have also found that not all aggressive behaviour involved fighting, but may be ritualised in the form of threat displays. These threats help species to assess their relative strength before deciding whether they should escalate a conflict which could potentially prevent costly and dangerous physical aggression from taking place.