Idle action

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Vacuum activity ( Engl. : Vacuum activities ) is a technical term of the mainly by Konrad Lorenz and Nikolaas Tinbergen elaborated instinct theory of classical ethology (ethology). It describes those instinctive movements that were set in motion by an innate trigger mechanism without the observer being able to detect a key stimulus. The term idling action was introduced into ethology by Konrad Lorenz. He first described an idle act in the 1930s based on observations on a hand-raised star .

Instead of vacuum activity is now more of idle movements spoken since the action is usually referred to only "willfully chosen behavior": "The concept of action includes behaviors for which we decide and we carry on purpose."

The function of idle movements within Konrad Lorenz's instinct theory

“ My old lecture example of 'idling' is the behavior of a star, in which I discovered the phenomenon as a high school student. From a high observation point the bird looked up intently at the white ceiling of the room, as if insects were flying there, then flew off, snapped in the air, returned to its observation point, performed the movement of killing prey, swallowed and decayed then in peace. It was a long time before I was finally convinced that no tiny insects, invisible to my eyes, were flying about in that room. "(Konrad Lorenz, 1978)

Lorenz's theory of instinct assumes a steadily flowing flow of action-specific energy (“drive energy”), which is causally responsible for an animal's specific willingness to act (for example to flee, to hunt or to mate). Furthermore, the theory stipulates that the action-specific energy increases continuously (as it were accumulates) if the associated end action does not take place, for example if no enemy, no prey, no sexual partner crosses the path. The observer recognizes the increase in the action-specific energy ( excitation ) from the fact that the animal becomes restless and actively searches for a suitable, triggering stimulus situation ( appetite behavior ). An example of such appetite behavior could be a lioness whose last successful hunt was a long time ago, so that action-specific energy for prey is continuously accumulating in her - with the result that she therefore wanders around searching from day to day. Thirdly, Lorenz stipulates in his instinct theory that if there is no adequate stimulus situation for a longer period of time, i.e. if there is a build-up of excitement, a "lowering of the threshold" occurs: the animal reacts to increasingly unspecific triggers with the final action when such drive congestion occurs. An example of this would be a dog that, due to a lack of bitches in heat, performs clear mating movements on its master’s leg or on a cleaning rag, or - a second example - that grabs his master’s slippers and at the same time shakes his head vigorously back and forth - a well-fed dog that never does itself prey have to do show here idle a behavior ( "Totschüttel movement") that would immediately break a rabbit contained in its mouth neck.

Since, according to Konrad Lorenz's instinct theory, action-specific arousal can only be reduced by a specific end act (e.g. fleeing, grabbing prey, sexual intercourse), i.e. acting out, the following question arises:

  • How does an animal behave if it is unable to break down a certain action-specific energy for an extremely long time?

For this case, the theory makes a prediction: The final act will then take place in "idle mode", that is, despite the absence of a demonstrable specific stimulus, i. H. without key stimulus .

criticism

According to his publications, Konrad Lorenz observed the first idle movements as a high school student in a tame star. According to his descriptions, the hand-fed and therefore consistently full bird flew again and again from its resting place against the ceiling, snapped in the air as if it caught flies there, returned to its resting place and made a swallowing motion there. Such anecdotal animal observations can certainly be of scientific interest, provided they are used as the starting point for a systematic analysis of the observations. In her critical examination of Konrad Lorenz's theory of instinct, however, the behavioral biologist Hanna-Maria Zippelius from Bonn came to the conclusion in 1992:

"In the behavioral literature, however, idling actions are described as one-time occurrences, even without precise information about the conditions under which they were observed."

What is meant is: Depending on which theoretical concept an observer of animals bases his studies on, different consequences can arise for the interpretation of the results. For example, an observer can proceed from the theoretical basis “that behavior can occur if and only if the willingness and the specific environmental situation are given.” If one then observes a certain behavior without the specific environmental situation being given, then must Considerations are made as to whether the triggering situation was only described incompletely. On the basis of Lorenz's theoretical concept, "an observer may say very quickly that this is an idle action."

According to Zippelius, the following circular argument is therefore precarious in the argumentation of the Lorenz-oriented ethologists : namely, that the observation of idle movements is seen as an essential support of the hypothesis of a continuously flowing, action-specific energy and the associated "spontaneity" of animal behavior. In fact, idle movements are "not a support of the theory", but a consequence of the above-mentioned basic theoretical assumptions (constant flow of action-specific energy, appetite behavior, lowering of the threshold).

Lorenz himself described the "fluctuation of the threshold", especially in avoidance reactions (for example escape behavior without enemy sighting), as "extremely inexpedient, 'dys teleonomous '", that is, as evolutionarily unsuitable for the requirements of the environment. According to Zippelius, an example of the incompatibility of Lorenz's instinct theory with fundamental assumptions of evolutionary theory is in particular the escape behavior , which Lorenz counts as one of the instinctual actions. An animal living under favorable circumstances that does not have to flee from any enemy (a cow in the pasture or the mouse in the cat-free barn) becomes the plaything of its appetite behavior: the alleged lowering of the threshold leads to a search for a triggering situation (enemy), which leads to dysteleonomic behavior , lead to energy-wasting escape reactions. After such escape reactions, the energy provided is also reduced, which increases the threat from really dangerous objects.

The Austrian zoologist and evolutionary biologist Wolfgang Wieser had already described an alternative to instinct theory in 1976 , based on cybernetic systems theory . Using the example of foraging, he described the observable behavior not as drive-controlled, but as a consequence of an imbalance between setpoint and actual value and the activities of the individual as aiming to correct the difference between a given and an actually existing system variable. “The localization, ingestion and consumption of the food then takes place according to a more or less precisely programmed motor plan, the final act , the result of which is the correction of the difference between the target and actual values ​​of the nutrients in the control center of the animal (in mammals in the hypothalamus of the interbrain ) is. The animal is then 'full' - but not because its energy store has been exhausted, a drive supply has been used up, but - if an appropriate simile is desired - because a question has been answered . ”The control center tirelessly asks the executing authorities questions of the following kind : "If the measured discrepancy between setpoint and actual values ​​cannot be corrected."

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Konrad Lorenz : The formation of the concept of instinct. In: The natural sciences. No. 19, 1937. Reprinted in: ders .: About animal and human behavior. From the development of the theory of behavior. Collected papers, Volume 1. Piper, Munich 1965, p. 302.
  2. ↑ Udo Rudolph: Motivational Psychology. Beltz Verlag, Weinheim, 2003, p. 5
  3. ↑ Konrad Lorenz: Comparative behavior research. Basics of ethology. Springer, Vienna and New York 1978, p. 102, ISBN 978-3-7091-3098-8 .
  4. ↑ George W. Barlow : Questions and Concepts of Ethology. Chapter 15 in: Klaus Immelmann : Grzimeks animal life, special volume behavior research. Kindler Verlag, Zurich 1974, p. 214.
  5. ^ Keyword idle action in: Klaus Immelmann: Grzimeks Tierleben, special volume behavior research. Kindler Verlag, Zurich 1974, p. 631.
  6. ↑ Konrad Lorenz: Comparative behavior research. Basics of ethology. Springer, Vienna and New York 1978, p. 102. Quoted in: Bernhard Hassenstein : Konrad Lorenz (1903−1989): Wissenschaftliches Werk und Personality. In: Communications from the Baden Regional Association for Natural History and Nature Conservation. NF Volume 18, No. 3, 2004, p. 183, full text (PDF)
  7. ↑ Hanna-Maria Zippelius : The measured theory. Vieweg, Braunschweig 1992, p. 70, ISBN 3-528-06458-7 .
  8. ↑ a b Hanna-Maria Zippelius: The measured theory, p. 71.
  9. ↑ Konrad Lorenz: Comparative Behavioral Research , p. 104
  10. ↑ Wolfgang Wieser : Konrad Lorenz and his critics. Piper, Munich 1976, p. 52 f., ISBN 3-492-00434-2 .