Ethological or
Biological |
Ethology is the study of the evolutionary significant behavior of people in their natural surroundings. From this perspective, development is examined in terms of the role of evolution and biology. Including issues related to the brain and nervous system, as well as hormones and genes. A major theme is that of "critical" or "sensitive periods" of development. Critical periods are those times at which we are biologically ready to acquire new behavior.
|
The four basic concepts of Ethology:
| Species-Specific Innate Behavior | Same in all of us, inherited and are adaptive. |
| The Evolutionary Perspective | The changes in us by different generations |
| Learning Predispositions | Predispostions towards certain kinds of learning. |
| Etological Methodolgy | Two ways of studying behavior are naturalistic observation and laboratory experimentation. |
A Related view is that of Sociobiology, which argues that given behaviors occur because of the desire or need for our genes to replicate themselves.
