The Ethological & Evolutionary Explanations of Aggression (AQA A Level Psychology): Flashcards
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Define ethology.
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Define ethology.
Ethology is the study of animal, and by extension human, behaviour in terms of traits, characteristics and rituals that have adapted to be useful for survival.
Why is aggression adaptive, according to ethologists?
A defeated animal is rarely killed but forced to establish territory elsewhere, spreading the species out and reducing competition and starvation.
How does aggression establish dominance hierarchies?
Male chimpanzees, for example, use aggression to climb the troop hierarchy, gaining special status such as mating rights.
Give two examples of territorial aggressive behaviour.
Any two of stags rutting, male sticklebacks displaying a red underbelly, and a cat arching its back and hissing.
Define ritual.
A ritual is a series of behaviours carried out in a set order.
What did Lorenz observe about fights within a species?
Little physical damage is done. Most encounters consist of ritualistic signalling, such as displaying claws and teeth or threatening facial expressions.
What are ritual appeasement displays?
Signals of acceptance of defeat that inhibit aggression in the victor, e.g. birds turning their head or wolves exposing their neck.
True or False?
Human 'posturing' between rival males is unlike animal aggression.
False.
It is similar: shouting, pushing and spreading arms wide to warn rivals away, and wars are fought over territory.
Define innate releasing mechanism (IRM).
An IRM is a built-in physiological process or structure, such as a network of neurons, triggered by an environmental stimulus. It is instinctive, not learned.
The environmental stimulus that triggers an IRM is called a , or a releaser if it involves communication within a species.
The environmental stimulus that triggers an IRM is called a sign stimulus, or a releaser if it involves communication within a species.
What did Tinbergen (1951) find using wooden models?
Sticklebacks attacked any model with a red spot regardless of shape, but showed no aggression to realistic models without one.
Define fixed action pattern (FAP).
A FAP is the behavioural sequence triggered by an IRM. It is unchanging between encounters and, once triggered, always runs to completion.
Name Lea's (1984) six features of FAPs.
Stereotyped, universal, unaffected by learning, ballistic, single-purpose and triggered by a specific sign stimulus.
A FAP is : once triggered, the behaviour follows an inevitable course and cannot be altered before completion.
A FAP is ballistic: once triggered, the behaviour follows an inevitable course and cannot be altered before completion.
What did Nisbett (1993) find?
A north-south divide in US homicides, with reactive killings more common among southern white males, explained by a learned 'culture of honour'.
How does Goodall (2010) challenge the ethological explanation?
In the 'four-year war', chimpanzees slaughtered another group despite appeasement signals, which did not inhibit the attackers as predicted.
What did Cohen et al. (1996) find?
Southern US males responded more aggressively to threats than northern males, suggesting cultural differences based on learned social norms.
How does Brunner et al. (1993) support the ethological explanation?
The low-activity MAOA variant is closely linked to aggression, supporting an innate, heritable basis for aggression.
True or False?
Ethological findings generalise easily to humans.
False.
Humans are more cognitively and socially sophisticated, and Lorenz did not study higher mammals such as primates.
How does Fox (2000) criticise Lorenz?
Lorenz extrapolated from individual animals to whole countries, but war is a collective undertaking that no individual impulse can explain.
Why is the ethological explanation nomothetic?
It seeks universal laws through shared mechanisms such as IRMs and FAPs, but may overlook individual differences in human aggression.
The ethological explanation exemplifies the side of the nature vs nurture debate.
The ethological explanation exemplifies the nature side of the nature vs nurture debate, downplaying culture and upbringing.
Define sexual jealousy.
Sexual jealousy is the emotions and behaviours involved in perceiving, whether real or imagined, that one's partner is being unfaithful or is attracted to others.
True or False?
Females are more prone to sexual jealousy than males.
False.
Males are more prone to sexual jealousy, while females are more concerned about emotional infidelity (Kato, 2022).
Define paternity uncertainty.
Paternity uncertainty is the fact that a man can never be certain a child is his, unlike the mother, creating the threat of cuckoldry.
Why is cuckoldry costly in evolutionary terms?
Investing in offspring that do not share the male's genes wastes resources, helps a rival's genes survive and leaves fewer resources for his own offspring.
Why did mate retention strategies evolve?
Men who avoided cuckoldry were more reproductively successful, so psychological mechanisms evolved to increase anti-cuckoldry behaviours.
Name Wilson and Daly's (1996) two mate retention strategies.
Direct guarding, e.g. checking her phone or tracking her whereabouts, and negative inducements, e.g. threats such as 'I'll kill myself if you leave me', which may lead to violence.
What did Buss (2013) conclude?
Sexual jealousy is a basic emotion that evolved because it solves adaptive problems of mating.
Larsen et al. (2021) surveyed 1,266 adolescents and found found imagined sexual infidelity more distressing.
Larsen et al. (2021) surveyed 1,266 adolescents and found males found imagined sexual infidelity more distressing.
What did Schutzwohl (2006) find?
Men were more occupied with thoughts of a mate's sexual infidelity, whereas women were more occupied with emotional infidelity.
Define bullying.
Bullying is a set of behaviours designed to intimidate, humiliate, control and torment another, usually more vulnerable, person.
Why do evolutionary psychologists see male bullying as adaptive?
It is an outward display of strength, status and resources, ultimately driven by the need to attract females and reproduce.
How does female bullying differ from male bullying?
It is less direct: exclusion, lies, verbal abuse and cyberbullying. It may secure resources by warding off competition for a male with resources.
What did Volk et al. (2012) and Kolbert and Crothers (2003) conclude?
Bullying may be an adaptive strategy offering benefits, and childhood bullying is used to establish dominance hierarchies in schools.
What did Campbell (1999) suggest?
Females place a high value on enhancing their reproductive success and use aggression as a form of ensuring it.
What did Shackelford et al. (2005) find?
In 107 married couples, men's mate retention behaviours strongly predicted women's reports of their partner's physical violence.
How could evolutionary understanding inform anti-bullying interventions?
By encouraging competitiveness so bullies can display positive qualities to potential mates without harming others.
True or False?
Intimate partner violence is only perpetrated by men.
False.
Women also perpetrate IPV, for reasons that could include sexual jealousy.
Why is most evolutionary research on aggression correlational?
Hypotheses about our evolutionary past are very hard to test, so no cause-and-effect conclusions can be drawn.
Why is the evolutionary explanation of IPV socially sensitive?
It may appear to justify controlling or violent behaviour as biologically determined, with ethical implications for domestic abuse.
Evolutionary theories support a biological view, implying limited free will over jealousy or bullying.
Evolutionary theories support a biological determinist view, implying limited free will over jealousy or bullying.
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