Early Instinct Approaches

Popular in late 1800’s Wm. James and Wm. McDougall Lists

Behaviorists

Criticisms of Instinct Model Nominal Fallacy Confusion with Learning Concept “dies” in Psychology

Ethology

Kept instinct concept “alive” Studied animal behavior Evolutionary adaptiveness of behavior Naturalistic Observation Simple Experiments Ethograms Lorenz and Tinbergen

Ethology Methods

Naturalistic observation Taxonomy of behavior Simple demonstration experiments

Ethological Terms

Appetitive Behavior Consummatory Behavior Action Specific Energy (ASE) Innate Releasing Mechanism (IRM) Key Stimulus (KS) Fixed Action Pattern (FAP)

Key Stimuli

Sign Stimuli Social Releaser Categories of Key Stimuli

Simple Complex/Configurational Supernormal

Supernormal Key Stimuli

Cuckoo’s egg and chick Rowland’s (1989c) Stickleback study

Receptive females Ceramic males

Normal 1.5 times normal

Measured preference (distance from model) Preference for a supernormal stimulus may be

advantageous (survival of offspring)

Fixed Action Patterns

Characteristics of FAPS Stereotyped

Rigid, fixed, species-specific Independent of Immediate External Control

Graylag goose FAP vs TAXIS

Spontaneous Flycatcher

Vacuum Activity Independent of Learning

Hailman’s Gull experiment

Human Ethology

Eibl-Eibesfeldt Research

Cross-cultural Challenged children

Blind Deaf retarded

Universality of Facial Expressions

Smiling Laughing Weeping Frowning Eyebrow Flick

The Eyebrow Flick

Found in his films 1/6 sec Part of “greeting ceremony”

Eye contact Smiling Raising eyebrows

A FAP Appeasement gesture

Eye contact in primates

Threat gesture in primates More complex in humans Lockhart’s field study

Facial Emotional Expression

Ekman’s group Research

Cross-cultural Methods Japanese/American Study Display Rules

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Muscle feedback from face Ekman, Friesen & Ancoli (1980) FACS Zygomatic Major muscles Strack, Martin & Stepper, (1988) Larsen, Kasimatis, & Frey, (1992)

Key Stimuli in Humans

Eibl-Eibesfeldt – Physical characteristics of infants

Neoteny and survival value Human Infant Characteristics

Large head relative to body Large eyes Roundedness

Keating et al. (2003) – adults with neotenous faces receive more help

Recent Approaches

Behavioral Ecology – how do behavior and the environment interact?

Cognitive Ethology – information processing in animals

Evolutionary Psychology – human genetically controlled behavior

Behavioral Ecology

Studies the relationships between behaviors and the environment E.g. Predator-prey interactions Competition among species members for

limited resources Social interactions in groups

Aggressive behavior Sexual behavior Parental Care

Group Membership – Why do many animals live in groups?

Causes competition for resources; however, group membership provides an overall advantage to the individual Increased protection from predators

Dilution effect Increased overall vigilance by the group Alarm signals

Finding new food sources Following behavior

Cognitive Ethology/Animal Cognition

Studies how animals interpret information

Two main approaches Conscious awareness not assumed

E.g. Shettleworth, (2001) Animals have some limited

consciousness Griffin (2001)

Consciousness

Perceptual consciousness Marking Test (Povinelli et al., 1997) Reflective consciousness

Self-awareness?

Evolutionary Psychology

“The analysis of the human mind as a collection of evolved mechanisms,” (Buss, 1999, p.47). Mechanisms to solve specific problems

Decision Rules Physiological Activity More decision processes Behavior

Evolutionary Psychology (Cont.)

Hinsz, Matz & Patience (2001). Correlational study

Does a woman’s hair provide clues to her reproductive potential?

Such signals common in other animals Male lions manes and immune system Birdsong and immune system

Hinsz et al. (2001) found:

Hair length correlated with age Hair quality correlated with health

Barber (1995) - Male physical appearance serves to communciate: Social dominance Female attraction

Hair Length

Social Dominance?