Sociobiology facts for kids

Sociobiology is a way of studying how living things behave, especially in groups. It looks at how social behaviors, like working together or competing, might have developed over a very long time through evolution. This field tries to understand why animals and humans act the way they do in their societies.

It combines ideas from many different sciences, like the study of animal behavior (ethology), the study of human societies (sociology), and the study of how living things change over time (evolution). When sociobiology looks at human societies, it connects with ideas from Charles Darwin and evolutionary psychology.

One of the main ideas in sociobiology is that certain behaviors can be passed down from parents to their children, just like physical traits. These inherited behaviors might have helped our ancestors survive and have more offspring. For example, if a behavior helped an animal find food or avoid danger, it would become more common over many generations.

The term "sociobiology" became well-known in 1975 when a scientist named E. O. Wilson published his important book, Sociobiology.

Sociobiology is based on two main ideas:

• Some behaviors are passed down through genes.
  • These inherited behaviors have been shaped by natural selection over time.
  • This means these behaviors were probably helpful for survival in the past.
• Humans are also animals.
  • So, human behaviors have also been changed by natural selection.
  • This suggests that some of our basic behaviors are inherited, and there might be limits to how much we can change them just through learning or culture. It means we are not completely "blank slates" (empty slates) when we are born.

This last idea, that some human behaviors are deeply rooted in our biology, has caused a lot of discussion and disagreement.

Why is Sociobiology Controversial?

When E.O. Wilson's book came out, most of it was about animal behavior. But a small part, about 30 pages, talked about how human behavior might have evolved. This short section caused a big stir.

Many of the arguments against sociobiology came from the political mood of the 1970s. Some people worried that if human behavior was seen as mostly inherited, it could be used to excuse social problems or inequalities. They feared it might suggest that people couldn't change their societies for the better.

However, Wilson himself was a liberal thinker, and his book did not contain political messages. He later explained his side of the story in a special edition of his book.

To avoid some of these arguments, other scientists developed a related field called evolutionary psychology. This field also believes that behavior patterns have an evolutionary origin. Evolutionary psychology focuses more on human behavior, while sociobiology grew from studying animal behavior (ethology).

How Does Sociobiology Explain Human Behavior?

Let's look at an example: Why do men often have certain ideas about what makes women beautiful? Some people might say that these ideas are just learned from culture and are used to keep men in charge.

But a sociobiologist like John Alcock would ask: What do the facts show? Are ideas of beauty in Western culture just random? He points out that standards of beauty often match signs of youth and good health. Young, healthy women are more likely to have children successfully.

Alcock suggests that it's unlikely that millions of years of natural selection would lead to men not caring about signs linked to women who can have children. He believes the answer is clear: these preferences are linked to our evolutionary past. He provides evidence that signs of youth and beauty are connected to a high chance of successful reproduction.

How Do We Study Animal Behavior?

It can be easier to study animal behavior because we don't have our own personal feelings or ideas getting in the way. We can also do experiments on animals that we couldn't do on humans.

For example, most songbird species have a unique song. Young male White-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) don't inherit the song itself. Instead, they inherit the ability to learn it at a certain age.

• If a young sparrow grows up without hearing other sparrows, its song won't sound right.
• But if it hears a recording of an adult male song, it will learn to sing the perfect song when it's old enough.
• If the young bird is made deaf, it cannot learn the song at all.

From these studies, we learn:

• The ability to learn the song is inherited, not the song itself.
• Hearing the adult song helps the learning process start.
• The young bird needs to compare its own sounds to the song it's trying to learn.
• A young bird will usually learn the song of its own species, even if it hears other songs.
• However, if a young male only meets a male of a different species, it can learn that "alien" song.

This shows that while the song isn't inherited, there's a strong inherited tendency to learn the right song. This makes sense because singing the correct song helps a male attract a female of its own species and defend its territory.

Sociobiology Today

Today, many scientists who support sociobiology believe its main ideas are very strong. They argue that humans are not completely blank slates, and our human nature is shaped by evolution just like our bodies. Some even suggest that our love for pet animals might be explained by how these animals helped our ancestors survive long ago.

Images for kids

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  E. O. Wilson, a key figure in sociobiology, known for his 1975 book Sociobiology: The New Synthesis.

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  Nikolaas Tinbergen, whose work on animal behavior influenced sociobiology.

See also

In Spanish: Sociobiología para niños