Tinbergen's four questions

Nikolaas Tinbergen의 네 가지 질문.

• Behavioural adaptive functions
• Phylogenetic history; and the proximate explanations
• Underlying physiological mechanisms
• Ontogenetic/developmental history.

Example

Visual perception:

• Function: To find food and avoid danger.
• Phylogeny: The vertebrate eye initially developed with a blind spot, but the lack of adaptive intermediate forms prevented the loss of the blind spot.
• Causation: The lens of the eye focuses light on the retina.
• Development: Neurons need the stimulation of light to wire the eye to the brain