Topic 3: Animal Behaviour RM Flashcards
What is behaviour? (+ give examples of categorisation types)
Behaviour: all the observable responses that an individual gives to internal or external stimuli
–> We can see and record it (must be objective and repeatable in our measures)
–> Normally involves MOVEMENT
Behaviour is categorised by particular types
- social: interaction (directed behaviour) to another individual
- foraging: set pattern used to locate and identify food
- associative: same individuals performing behaviours in same space and time (non-directive)
What is a stimuli?
Events that cause an organism to perform an activity or start a reaction
–> We can therefore manipulate the stimuli and see how the response changes
–> Allows us to infer reasons why behaviour occurs and what it tells us about the animals wellbeing/physiology/psychology
Define
- State
- Event
- Bouts
States = long duration (can time)
Events = short duration (have to count)
Bouts = the grouping of events into a set pattern (eg. courtship ritual)
Animal behaviour can be PURE and APPLIED. Outline the Applied Function of Animal Behaviour
Applied Function
- improving how we keep managed animals
- improving how we interact with animals that we ‘use’
- adding to our understanding of motivation and reasons for behaviour (so we can help eg. provide them with better housing)
- animal welfare (see final card)
Animal behaviour can be PURE and APPLIED. Outline the Pure Aspects of Animal Behaviour
Evolutionary biology - where have we come from / common ancestors
Behavioural ecology - how has the animal evolved to its habitat
Cognition and consciousness
Human and animal comparisons
–> We can make cross-species comparisons to look at why behaviours occur in the form that they do
Define
- Sampling
- Recording
Sampling:
- Who to watch
- What measure
Recording
- how to record
- when to measure
*the species observed and question asked will dictate the recording methods used - needs to account for many variables
Sampling Techniques: Define
- Ad libitum
- Focal
- Scan
- Behavioural
Ad Libitum
- all behaviours are recorded - very good for producing an ethogram
Focal
- focus on one individual
Scan
- scans the group at regular intervals (whole population) and write down number of times the behaviour is performed within the group
- great when you can’t tell individuals apart
Behavioural
- record occurrence of a particular behaviour (especially if that behaviour is the focus of the observations)
What is an ethogram?
All the behaviours that a species performs
Define these Recording Techniques
- Continuous
- Instantaneous
- One-Zero
Continuous
- exact record of behaviour and records each occurrence throughout the whole observation period
Instantaneous:
- divide sample period into short intervals and record behaviour on that time point
One-zero: r
- record whether behaviour has occurred in sample period –> good for rare behaviours and when behavioural sampling is used
Define these Behavioural Measures
- Frequency
- Duration
- Latency
- Bout
Frequency: number of behavioural occurences per unit of time
Duration: length of time for which a single occurrence of the behaviour lasts
Latency: the time from a specific stimulus to the first occurance of the behaviour
Bout: a short period of a specific activity, normally intense, that can be timed. Will have a specific start and end point - and a latency between bouts is required for measurement
What happens when there are quick behaviours that are hard to time?
EVENT BEHAVIOURS
if you can’t time it - it can’t be in a time-activity budget
Must be counted and displayed as a frequency (tally) OR as a rate of occurrence
–> ad lib sampling helps with this
What is a time-activity budget?
Proportion of behaviours displayed during the study
- expressed graphically as percentages to show how individuals expend energy on behaviour (shows the importance of each activity)
Time = energy spent = motivation for behaviour
What is a daily activity pattern?
A behavioural profile for the same animal over a 24 hour period
- best if observing has occurred during night and day
Outline general DOs and DON’Ts for measuring behaviour
DO
- run pilot study
- read papers detailing a similar species or research question
- construct ethogram before you begin
- base methods on precedent (previous methods)
DON’T
- continue using a sampling protocol that is not generating useful or valid data
- assume you need hours and hours of data
- quality data is better than quantity data –> be repeatable and accurate!
How do you evaluate animal behaviour data (including sample size)
- introduce the bigger picture: what element of behaviour is being studied
- then introduce the species
- analyse the data using appropriate stats
- expand discussion and conclusions (why does research matter?)
Sample: as many as possible (BUT case studies can be useful)
- as much data as possible (doesn’t mean u need hours to collect it!)
Statistics: What statistics are best used in animal behaviour?
T-test: great for behavioural data
can ignore the old idea they only work on parametric data
*will still provide valid analysis with a fairly large (25+) sample
One sample T-Test: good for treatment v baseline
Paired T-Test: good for comparing data measured twice
Look for differences: post-hoc one-way ANOVA
What is animal welfare?
The state of an individual as it attempts to cope with its environment (Broom, 1996)
–> Human interaction influences animal welfare
–> 5 domains model of animal welfare: five key areas that influence an animal’s overall welfare
1. Nutrition (physiological)
2. Environment living in (physiological)
3. Interactions with environment (behavioural)
4. Interactions with individuals around you (behavioural)
5. Welfare State
*Physiological - what we provide the animal with
*Behavioural - what we can measure
