2.15 Measuring and Recording Animal Behaviour Flashcards
What is ethology?
the study of animal behaviour
Name three measurements used to quantify animal behaviour.
latency, frequency and duration
What is latency?
the time between a stimulus occurring and the response behaviour
What is frequency?
the number of times a behaviour occurs within the observation period
What is duration?
the length of time each behaviour occurs within the observation period.
What does an ethogram list?
species-specific behaviour to be observed and recorded in the study
An ethogram of the behaviours shown by a species in the wild can be used to construct…
a time budget
Recording the duration of each of the ___ listed on the ethogram, as well as the ___ time of observation allows the ___ of time spent on each behaviour to be calculated in the ___ ___.
behaviours, total, proportion, time budget
What MUST be avoided?
Why?
anthropomorphism.
it leads to invalid conclusions
