Theory & Practice of Ethology (from Class Packet, pgs. 89+)

• Definitions: • 1. The study of species-

specific behavior (or instinctive behavior)

• 2. Members of all animal species are born with a number of “biologically programmed” or instinctual behaviors that contribute to their survival

Human instincts

• Class?

Ethology & Birds (Class Packet, p. 91)

• 3. Many birds come biologically prepared to engage in such instinctual behaviors as:

• a)) protect the young from predators and to ensure that they find food,

• b) building nests, • c) singing songs

Instinctual Behavior

• flying in formation

Imprinting: Konrad Lorenz, Zoologist & Ethologist

(Class Packet, p. 93+)

• Lorenz watched animal behaviors in their natural habitats.

Imprinting: Konrad Lorenz, Ethologist

• Ducklings, geese and other birds must see and follow their mother within a short time after birth in order to become attached to her; the ducklings are then said to become imprinted on the mother to ensure their survival.

Lorenz’ experiment with imprinting:

• 1. Lorenz separated newborn ducklings from their mothers for 24-48 hours

• 2. When he reunited them with their mothers after 36 hours, the ducklings refused to follow their mothers

• 3. The ducklings had imprinted to Lorenz

Lorenz & his ducklings

• They followed him wherever he went; they were totally uninterested in full-grown female ducks.

• Once they are imprinted on something or someone, it is impossible to “un-imprint” them

Imprinting, attachment & mammals

• 2 kinds of attachment:• 1. Imprinting = quick and

simple form of attachment in lower animals.

• 2. “sensitive period” = more gradual in higher animals, such as monkeys and humans.

• The end result is similar: the attached baby animal stays close to its mother, which is adaptive and increases its chances of survival

Imprinting & attachment are similar; they must happen early for successful development of the

young

Other innate or biologically programmed behaviors: (Class Packet, p. 91)

• genetically programmed motor actions:

• Ex. Birds performing courtship dances

• Ex. Spiders spinning webs

Biologically programmed behaviors (Class Packet, p.91)

• Ex. Babies crying when hungry

• Ex. Squirrels burying nuts

Human Attachment

• What inherited attributes or behaviors make us distinctly human? Class?

Innate Human behavior: 1) standing erect, 2) walking on two feet, and 3)???

Innate Human behavior: 1) standing erect, 2) walking on two feet, 3) smiling

Ethology: Species-Specific Innate Behavior(Class Packet, p. 89-90)

• 1. How do we know if a behavior is inherited from our evolutionary past?

• A. It is present without being learned• B. It is found in all members of a species

“Maternal” reaction

• Newborn babies are totally dependent on their mother

• This is true of all baby mammals – a newborn kitten, calf, rabbit or monkey – will usually die if its mother abandons it

• Mammal mothers don’t ordinarily abandon their young

Human Ethology (John Bowlby)

Class: What do human babies do to make the caregiver want to feed them and take care of them?

“Critical period” for attachment in humans(Class Packet, p. 94+)

• John Bowlby (psychiatrist & ethologist) applied ethology to parent-child bonds

• Babies are biologically prepared to contribute actively to establish a bond with their caregivers

Ways babies keep caregiver close by: “the cuteness factor”

• A big head is characteristic not only of human babies, but animal babies as well

• The eyes are large & located down on the head

• These features make a face look babyish and cute

The “Cuteness Factor:” Adaptive & Survival Value

• Human babies have other characteristics that add to their appeal: soft skin, long eyelashes, pink lips, and round cheeks

• These traits evoke an automatic, involuntary response of affection and protection from the adults, both men and women

• An “Aw, shucks” reaction to the sight of cute babies

Ways babies keep caregiver close by

• This reaction is not confined to the young of our own species: kittens, puppies, and baby porcupines are just as capable of evoking an “Aw, shucks” reaction

Ways babies keep caregiver close by: cooing, babbling, smiling, looking

Ways babies keep caregiver close by: cooing, babbling, smiling, looking, crying

Ways babies keep caregiver close by: cooing, babbling, smiling, looking, crying

Attachment, bonding and imprinting in animals, birds and humans

Ethology (Boehm, Unit II, pgs. 6-9)

• Attachment and bonding behaviors have adaptive or survival value: they lead to eating, mating, or protecting the species from harm

Adults are also biologically programmed to be caregivers

• to respond favorably to the baby and to form a close attachment,

• enables infants (and the species) to survive

Critical period for attachment in humans

• We are most uniquely susceptible to forming close emotional ties during the first 3 years

• Should we have little or no opportunity to do so during this period, we would find it difficult to make close friends or to enter into intimate emotional relationships with other people later in life

Critical period for attachment is first 3 years(Boehm, Unit II, pgs. 8-12)

• Some parents who suffer from various life stresses (prolonged illnesses, depression, an unhappy marriage, poverty), may be routinely inattentive or neglectful, so that the infant’s cries rarely promote any contact with them

Critical Period of Attachment in Humans (Class Packet, p. 94-96)

“GENIE” A CASE STUDY

Autumn Edge 1970's Case Study

“Genie” & the critical periods for attachment, language, socialization, emotions

 

• Genie's story is a complicated and sad one. 

• It is a terribly important case, says Harlan Lane, a psycholinguist at Northeastern University who wrote The Wild Boy of Aveyron. Since our morality doesn’t allow us to conduct deprivation experiments with human beings, these unfortunate people are all we have to go on.

Genie 

– On November 25, 1970 in Arcadia, Los Angeles  13- year- old Genie was discovered.  Genie did not

have any sense of language and grew up in almost complete isolation, alone day and night for 11 years in a back bedroom. 

– Her only words when found were "stop it."  Her father claimed that Genie was “mentally retarded,” so that is why she spent her days tied to a potty seat and nights in a sleeping bag that was designed so she could not move (similar to a straight jacket). She had been severely abused.

 

Genie

•   It was the first time scientists could test the Critical Period Hypothesis and how it affects first language acquisition.  Feral Children (children that have not grown up with any human contact) throughout history have been the only way scientists have been able to test language capacities after a child has passed the critical period of language development. 

Genie

• November 1970, Genie was found and taken to L.A. Children's Hospital.  Her father was charged with child abuse and committed suicide one week before his trial.

• At Children's Hospital Genie had several doctors: for language, for psychology, for psychiatry, for special education.  These doctors wanted to see through Genie if language was innate (Chomsky) or if it had to be learned before the age of puberty (Lemmeberg).

Genie

• Jean Butler was Genie's first foster caregiver.  She only stayed with Butler for a short time.  David Riggler took Genie into his home and she stayed with his family for 4 years. 

• At the age of 18, Genie returned to the care of her mother.  After a few months her mother found her too difficult.  Her mother sued the Children's Hospital for excessive research and not considering the best interest of the patient (the case was settled outside of court). 

• Genie was then put into a foster home where she was severally abused.  This abuse caused a lapse in her speech gains from the hospital and she never spoke again like she did the first four years after her being found.  She lived in 6 different foster care homes after this.  Currently she is in the care of an adult foster home in southern California.

Genie had missed the critical periods for language, attachment, and social and emotional behaviors

(Class Packet, p. 94-96)

• Results for Genie Genie was rescued from a situation in which she was beaten every time she made noise or tried to speak.  She was only given baby food and cereal to eat.  When she was admitted to the hospital, she was 54 inches tall and weighed only 62 pounds.  She could hardly stand, chew solid foods, and could not make sounds. 

Results for Genie

• Genie did not acquire language as hoped, but only learned about 100 words over a 4 year period. It is unclear if her inability to acquire language was due to the fact that she had missed her critical period or because of the severe trauma she had suffered.

Ethology: Examples of other traits & behaviors humans have inherited:

1. Rituals that precede mating:

• By studying videotapes of young humans, ethologists found that teenage girls in 9 different cultures flirt in exactly the same way – they use the same facial expressions and the same movements of the head and eyes

Mating Rituals

Emotions are innate; how they’re expressed is cultural (Class Packet, p. 96)

Why do infants fear separation & strangers?

• Among the events that infants may be programmed to fear are:

• Strange people (stranger anxiety)

• Strange settings• Strange circumstance

of being separated from familiar companions

(separation anxiety)

Basic Fighting (Aggressive) Instinct: Lorenz

• Lorenz argues that humans and animals have a basic fighting (aggressive) instinct

• All instincts, including aggression, serve a basic evolutionary purpose: to ensure the survival of the individual and the species

Animal aggressive instinct

Animals & humans have an innate capacity for aggression

• What triggers aggression?• “You entered my territory

(space).”• To protect our young• Fighting among males

determines which males will mate with available females

• Most species have inhibitions preventing them from killing members of their own kind, except for humans

Human aggression & killing

Human aggression, violence

Aggression Among Preschoolers

More aggressive confrontations

Are we programmed for Pro-social Conduct?

• Yes.

Innate Pro-social (cooperative) behavior: family units

A Genetic Basis for Altruism & Empathy

• Newborns display a primitive empathy when they become distressed at the sound of another infant’s cries

Critical period in preschool years for social behaviors: emotional expressions, cooperation,

and social play

Play is universal to all children; what they play is unique to each culture.

• There is a critical period for social play to develop in the preschool years.

The End

Critical period: Pro-social behaviors

THE END

Critical period for social play, cooperation

Separation anxiety is innate

• Baby first learns to discriminate the familiar from the unfamiliar (around 8 months) and then is preprogrammed to have fear of strangers or the unfamiliar

Emotions have survival & adaptive value. What emotions do these faces express?

Human Aggressive Instinct: How it is expressed is Cultural

• According to Lorenz, humans kill other humans because their aggressive instinct is poorly controlled

• In prehistoric times, we had no weapons, so we didn’t need prohibitions against killing

• Today, we have lethal weapons & no inhibitions in place

• Challenge: channel aggression into socially acceptable pursuits or face becoming an endangered species

Aggression occurs in all cultures: each society decides what and how it is appropriately expressed

Human ethology (John Bowlby, M.D.)

• Bowlby claims that human infants have inherited a number of behaviors that help them to maintain contact with others and to elicit caregiving.

Ways babies keep caregiver close by: cooing, babbling, smiling, looking, crying

Critical period for attachment is first 3 years(Class Packet, p.94-96)

• What the infant learns is that her closest companions are unreliable and not to be trusted

• She may later assume that others, (teachers, peers) are equally untrustworthy individuals who should be avoided whenever possible

Pro-social Behaviors: We are born with innate ability for Altruism & Empathy

• Of course, pro-social behavior may be fostered or inhibited by the social environments in which children are raised

Types of Innate behaviors in human babies with survival value:

(Class Packet, p. 89, 99)

• 1. Reflexes: rooting, sucking, Moro, grasping