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?