innateness and the instinct to learn

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ID: 231548
2004
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Abstract
Concepts of innateness were at the heart of Darwin's approach to behavior and central to the ethological theorizing of Lorenz and, at least to start with, of Tinbergen. Then Tinbergen did an about face, and for some twenty years the term 'innate' became highly suspect. He attributed the change to Lehrman's famous 1953 critique in which he asserted that classifying behaviors as innate tells us nothing about how they develop. Although Lehrman made many valid points, I will argue that this exchange also led to profound misunderstandings that were ultimately damaging to progress in research on the development of behavior. The concept of 'instincts to learn', receiving renewed support from current theorizing among geneticists about phenotypic plasticity, provides a potential resolution of some of the controversies that Lehrman created. Bioacoustical studies, particularly on song learning in birds, serve both to confirm some of Lehrman's anxieties about the term 'innate', but also to make a case that he threw out the genetic baby with the bathwater. The breathtaking progress in molecular and developmental genetics has prepared the way for a fuller understanding of the complexities underlying even the simplest notions of innate behavior, necessary before we can begin to comprehend the ontogeny of behavior.
O conceito de inato estava no cerne da abordagem de Darwin ao comportamento assim como no das teorias etológicas de Lorenz e, pelo menos inicialmente, de Tinbergen. Depois, Tinbergen deu uma reviravolta e, durante mais ou menos vinte anos, o termo ''inato'' tornou-se altamente suspeito. Tinbergen atribuiu sua mudança à famosa crítica de Lehrman, em 1953, segundo a qual classificar comportamentos como inatos não traz informação alguma a respeito de seu desenvolvimento. Embora muitas das críticas de Lehrman sejam relevantes, tentarei mostrar que a mudança de enfoque também gerou sérios equívocos que acabaram prejudicando o progresso da pesquisa sobre o desenvolvimento do comportamento. O conceito de ''instintos para aprender'', reforçado por teorias recentes de geneticistas a respeito da plasticidade fenotípica, abre um caminho para a superação de algumas das controvérsias que Lehrman originou. Estudos em bioacústica, em particular sobre a aprendizagem do canto em aves, confirmam alguns dos temores de Lehrman a respeito do termo ''inato'', mas também mostram que ele restringiu, sem discernimento, a relevância da determinação genética. O progresso espetacular da genética molecular e da genética do desenvolvimento fornece a base para uma melhor apreensão da complexidade existente até nas noções mais simples de comportamento inato, o que é necessário para que possamos entender a ontogênese do comportamento.
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marler2004anaisinnateness Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors ;Peter Marler
Journal hypertension (dallas, tex : 1979)
Year 2004
DOI
10.1590/S0001-37652004000200002
URL
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0001-37652004000200002
Keywords
phenotypic plasticity innateness

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