Practice question · Put in order
Order the evolutionary steps of ritualization, by which an ordinary behavior becomes a signal.
- Over generations it becomes exaggerated and stereotyped.
- It reliably occurs in a particular social context.
- It is simplified into a clear, distinctive form.
- An ordinary behavior (e.g. preening, or a displacement activity during conflict) occurs.
- It now functions as a specialized signal in its own right.
Hints
- Ritualization starts from an ORDINARY behavior serving another function.
- The behavior first becomes exaggerated/stereotyped, then simplified into a dedicated signal.
Show the answer
- An ordinary behavior (e.g. preening, or a displacement activity during conflict) occurs.
- It reliably occurs in a particular social context.
- Over generations it becomes exaggerated and stereotyped.
- It is simplified into a clear, distinctive form.
- It now functions as a specialized signal in its own right.
Why
Ritualization takes an ordinary behavior, tied to a social context, and makes it progressively exaggerated, stereotyped, and simplified until it works purely as a signal. The signal's origin in an unrelated everyday behavior is the key idea.
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