Leveling with Tinbergen: Four levels simplified to causes and consequences

IF 4.6 2区 社会学 Q1 ANTHROPOLOGY Evolutionary Anthropology Pub Date : 2021-12-14 DOI:10.1002/evan.21931
Thore J. Bergman, Jacinta C. Beehner
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引用次数: 12

Abstract

In 1963, Niko Tinbergen published his foundational manuscript identifying the four questions we ask in animal behavior—how does the behavior emerge across the lifespan (development); how does it work (mechanism); how and why did it evolve (evolution); and why is it adaptive (function). Tinbergen clarified that these ‘levels of analysis’ are complementary, not competing, thereby avoiding many fruitless scientific debates. However, the relationships among the four levels was never established. Here, we propose ‘leveling’ Tinbergen's questions to a single temporal timescale divided into causes (encompassing mechanism, development, and evolution) and consequences (encompassing function). Scientific advances now seamlessly link evolution, development, and mechanism into a continuum of ‘causes’. The cause–consequence distinction separates the processes that precede (and lead to) a behavior, from the processes that come after (and result from) a behavior. Even for past behaviors, the functional outcomes are (historical) consequences of the causes that preceded them.

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通过Tinbergen升级:4个级别简化为原因和结果
1963年,Niko Tinbergen发表了他的基础手稿,确定了我们在动物行为中提出的四个问题——行为是如何在整个生命周期(发展)中出现的;它是如何工作的(机制);它是如何以及为什么进化的(进化);为什么它是自适应的(功能)。Tinbergen澄清说,这些“分析水平”是互补的,而不是竞争的,因此避免了许多徒劳的科学辩论。然而,这四个层次之间的关系从未建立起来。在这里,我们建议将Tinbergen的问题“平衡”到一个单一的时间尺度上,分为原因(包括机制、发展和进化)和结果(包括功能)。科学进步现在将进化、发展和机制无缝地连接成一个连续的“原因”。因果区别将行为之前(和导致)的过程与行为之后(和结果)的过程分开。即使对于过去的行为,功能结果也是之前原因的(历史)结果。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
7.00
自引率
5.40%
发文量
46
期刊介绍: Evolutionary Anthropology is an authoritative review journal that focuses on issues of current interest in biological anthropology, paleoanthropology, archaeology, functional morphology, social biology, and bone biology — including dentition and osteology — as well as human biology, genetics, and ecology. In addition to lively, well-illustrated articles reviewing contemporary research efforts, this journal also publishes general news of relevant developments in the scientific, social, or political arenas. Reviews of noteworthy new books are also included, as are letters to the editor and listings of various conferences. The journal provides a valuable source of current information for classroom teaching and research activities in evolutionary anthropology.
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