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Ritualization
Sociobiologists believe that some communicative behavior in animals is developed through a process called ritualization. In this process, the purpose of a given behavior changes over time—a behavior that originally had a practical purpose develops into one that communicates a specific message. For example, a certain movement or physical feature might evolve to serve as a signal or a warning that other animals will understand. Once a behavior is ritualized, it becomes a form of communication; therefore, if an animal engages in this behavior, other animals will be able to interpret the meaning of the behavior quickly and respond appropriately.
Listening
Narrator: Now listen to part of a lecture on this topic in a Zoology class.
Professor: Let's start with an example you may be familiar with.
What's one thing dogs typically do when they feel threatened,
when they want to protect themselves.
That's right, they show their teeth.
And when we see this,
we know this behavior means basically "stay away".
Now here's how this behavior became a recognizable warning.
A long long time ago,
a dog sensing danger would get ready to bite whatever animal was threatening it.
It started by baring its teeth.
But the purpose of doing this was something very simple.
The dog instinctively was making sure it wouldn't bite its own lips when it bit the other animal. OK?
But what happened?
Other dogs, other animals, over time,
they learned that this teeth-baring always came before a dog was going to bite.
And so they started to read it as a signal to be careful, to keep away or risk getting bitten.
This scenario, repeated time after time,
also led to the dog's awareness that by simply showing its teeth,
a lot of the time, that was protection enough.
What had been a simple physical preparation to bite had developed into a kind of defense mechanism in and of itself.
The dog learned it did not need to actually attack,
but could get the right result from just communicating the possibility of an attack through showing its teeth.
It started to use this behavior as a warning signal.
Question
Explain the concept of rituatization using the example of dogs discussed by the professor.
