exam II Flashcards
pros of field work
natural behaviors, no husbandry costs, free? of ethical concerns
cons of field work
site selection, landowner permission, proximity vs data frequency, sample size concerns
pros of lab work
controls and experiments, often close/more detail, model species+huge knowledge base
cons of lab work
$$$ for husbandry, adaptation to captivity, ethics for wild species
observer effect
disrupting natural behaviors
3 ways to combat observer effect
habituation, hide, video
4 sampling rules
ad lib, focal, scan, behavior
3 recording rules
continuous + time sampling (instantaneous + one-zero)
ad lib sampling
no set rule, get as much info on as many individuals as you can
ad lib sampling pros
little prep required, preliminary observations
ad lib sampling cons
miss brief or inconspicuous behaviors
focal animal sampling
focus on a predetermined individual (or dyad or group), note OOV
focal sampling pros
best for group interactions, documenting variation, good in-depth behavioral info
focal sampling cons
difficult if OOV > in view, may misrepresent OOV behaviors
scan sampling
whole group scanned at intervals, proportions + times of behaviors
scan sampling pro
broad sweep of data for comparison between groups or across seasons
scan sampling cons
restricted to “simple” behaviors, may misrepresent rare behaviors
behavior sampling
group observed and instances of behaviors recorded along w participants, good for mating/aggression
behavior sampling pro
collect data on rare behaviors
behavior sampling con
biased towards conspicuous behaviors
continuous recording
recording all behaviors w time/duration, exact record of behavior
instantaneous recording (state v event?)
record behaviors “on the beep” (good for state behaviors)
one-zero recording (state v event?)
record whether behaviors occurred (1) or not (0) during a sample interval (works well for event behaviors)
bird identification methods
leg bands, neck bands, wing tags, radio-tracking, PIT tags
mammal identification methods
fur dye, ear tags, PIT tags, radio-transmitter
fish identification methods
fin clip/notch, floy tags, marine radio-transmitter, PIT tags w monitoring stations
reptile/amphibian identification methods
epoxied labels, shell notch/engrave, toe clipping, visible implant
4 study needs
permanence of mark, alteration of behavior/invasiveness, cost, distance of observation
5 marking methods
natural features, mutilations, dyes/inks, adornments, active/passive transmitters
“gambit of the group”
individuals repeatedly observed in same group have a social
affiliation
node vs edge
node = individual, edge = social connection
dominant vs subordinate
mostly wins vs loses aggressive interactions
reliability
PRECISION, sensitivity, consistency - how “good”
validity
ACCURACY, specificity, scientific validity - how “right”
within-observer reliability
consistency of observer
between-observer reliability
consistency between observers
2 methods of measuring reliability
index of concordance and correlation
index of concordance equation
A / A + D
4 factors affecting reliability
practice/experience, frequency of occurrence, observer fatigue, adequacy of definition
observer drift
as you see behavior more, definition changes
standardized behavior tests
more automation, behavioral scoring pre-determined
5 common methods of data capture
video, acoustic, odor, physiological variables, biologgers
AI-assisted methods
guided vs machine learning
learning
change in behavior over time as a result of a new stimulus
non-associative learning examples
habituation + sensitization
associative learning examples
involves context!! classical + operant conditioning
classical conditioning
association formed between 2 stimuli, results in a learned PHYSIOLOGICAL response
operant conditioning
response associated with its consequence
positive punishment
apply unfavorable event to lessen response
negative punishment
remove favorable event after a behavior occurs
positive reinforcement
favorable events presented after the behavior
negative reinforcement
removal of an unfavorable
event after the display of a behavior
punishment
decreases behavior
reinforcement
increases behavior
positive v negative
apply/remove stimuli
two fields of science making roots of modern AB
ethology + comparative psychology
ethology
scientific study of animal behavior
3 “big three” pioneers
frisch, lorenz, tinbergen
karl von frisch
decoded language of bees, animal language
konrad lorenz
imprinting, fixed-action patterns esp in birds + observation
tinbergen
“suprenormal” stimuli + intensity of behavior, stickleback courtship + reproductive behavior, experimental
charles henry turner
studied insects and bees and their behavior, honeybee color-vision
proximate
pertaining to the individual animal
ultimate
pertaining to the population/species
current
occurs now, time scale = animal’s lifetime
historical
occurs in evolutionary time, generations
proximate + current
how does it work? (causation)
proximate + historical
how did it develop? (ontogeny)
ultimate + current
what is it for? (survival value)
ultimate + historical
how did it evolve? (evolution)
causation question
what stimuli releases the behavior?
ontogeny
what development in the animal’s life leads to the behavior?
survival value
how does the behavior benefit the animal’s survival/reproduction?
evolution
from what behavior does this evolve?
3 R’s
replace, reduce, refine
refinement
refine the experiments such that animal suffering is minimized or eliminated
improve animal welfare as a professional
EXPERIENCE, living conditions, descriptions of procedures
3 major ways to describe behavior
consequence, structure, spatial relation
ethogram
catalog of all behaviors performed by a species
ethogram factors to consider
independent yet inclusive!
4 measurements in animal behavior
latency, frequency, duration, intensity
frequency
count of behavior
intensity
local rate/amplitude
latency
time until a behavior
duration
length of behavior
