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Animal Behaviour And Cognition > Scientific Measurements Of Behaviour > Flashcards

Scientific Measurements Of Behaviour Flashcards

1
Q

How can behaviour be exhibited?

A

Movement
Scent marking
Colour changes
Vocalisation

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2
Q

Give examples of different scales of behaviour

A

Monarch butterflies migrate in large numbers across the Americas which is an example of mass behaviour
Dormice hibernating in winter is an inactive behaviour
Red deer stags fighting during the rut is an example of social behaviour

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3
Q

Give examples of ways for behaviour to be described

A

Artistically
Photographically
Creative writing
Scientifically

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4
Q

Give examples of how to measure behaviour

A 
Latency
Frequency
Intensity
Amplitude
Volume
Duration
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5
Q

How is behaviour described

A

In terms of different behavioural units

You can measure everything of a category as 1 unit or measure all the specific behaviours as a unit each

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6
Q

When you choose your behavioural units each unit needs a what?

A

Each behavioural unit needs a detailed and specific definition

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7
Q

The list of behaviours you’ll observe and there definitions will then be generated into a what?

A

Ethogram

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8
Q

What is an ethogram?

A

An ethogram is a table of the behavioural descriptions and categories
Ethogram’s can also have codes and statuses

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9
Q

What are ethogram codes?

A

Ethogram codes are abbreviations of the behavioural terms in the ethogram so time is saved when doing the study

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10
Q

What are ethogram statuses?

A 
In ethogram's you may class a behaviour as a state or and event depending on how long it is and how long the study is
State = long behaviour
Event = short behaviour
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11
Q

What are the 4 things that are important within the ethogram?

A

1) Behaviour is described entirely objectively
2) Assumptions about the behaviours purpose or causes are avoided
3) There’s no subjective interpretation of the animals feelings/intentions
4) Each behaviour must be unique and unambiguous

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12
Q

In terms of the ethogram what is it meant by “ behaviour is described entirely objectively”?

A

This means we’re describing only the detectable aspects of the behaviour
You only describe what you can see, hear and/or smell

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13
Q

Why should there be “no subjective interpretation of the animals feelings/intentions” in an ethogram?

A

You may have them, which is why you’re looking into it, but they cannot show in the ethogram
This allows you to see if that behaviour is seen in other situations as well

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14
Q

In an ethogram why must “each behaviour be unique and unambiguous”?

A

So each behaviour is not easily confused with other behaviours

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15
Q

Define an ethogram state

A

State = A behaviour long enough to have a measurable duration

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16
Q

Define an ethogram event

A

Event = Behaviour that’s brief or fleeting

Behaviour where the duration is either too short to measure or irrelevant

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17
Q

What do you measure when measuring an ethogram event?

A

Frequency of the event

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18
Q

What are ethogram events also known as?

A

Point event

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19
Q

Whether a behaviour is a state or event depends on what?

A

The time scale of the whole study

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20
Q

Name 3 types of sampling

A

Focal
Scan
Conspicuous behaviour

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21
Q

Name 3 types of recordings

A

Continuous
Instantaneous
1-0 (one-zero)

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22
Q

What is focal sampling?

A

This is where you record data from 1 animal
This can be done as:
- 1 animal throughout the study
- 1 animal for each recording
You’d focus on just that animal but can also record social behaviour about it

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23
Q

What is scan sampling?

A

Scan sampling is where you go through each animal in turn and record their behaviour at particular intervals
The pattern in which you choose to record data from each animal must be systematic

An example of a pattern is recording data from the scan sample population by recording each animal in turn left to right
If you can identify individual animals a set order can be used

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24
Q

What is conspicuous behaviour sampling?

A

Conspicuous behaviour sampling is where you ignore individual animal data and record the frequency of a behaviour exhibited from the whole sample population
If the number of animals changes in the test site it can be better to record behaviour as a proportion of the population present
Behaviour observed : sample population visible
If you’re comparing data between sessions which have different sample populations present then it’s important to adjust for the animals at each time point

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25
Q

What is continuous recording?

A

Continuous recording is where you record the start and stop times for every behaviour or just note the time it happened if it’s an event behaviour
This generates a detailed description of what the animal has done over the observation period

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26
Q

Over what kind of time periods can continuous recording take place?

A

Short periods of recordings sessions

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27
Q

Is continuous recording labour intensive?

A

Yes

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28
Q

What sampling methods can continuous recording be done with?

A

Focal sampling

Conspicuous behaviour sampling

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29
Q

When is instantaneous recording used?

A

Instantaneous recording is used for:

          - lots of behaviours
          - lots of animals
          - for long periods of time
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30
Q

How does instantaneous recording work?

A

You would first decide on an appropriate interval and set a timer, then record the data at each ‘beep’
The intervals chosen must be biologically relevant so that the data is actually useable
Instantaneous recording is best used for recording states that are not likely to change over the chosen time period

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31
Q

What is 1-0 recording?

A

1-0 recording is where you decide on a set time interval to record the data
However you only record whether or not you’ve observed the behaviour between each interval

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32
Q

When is 1-0 recording most useful?

A

1-0 recording is most useful when recording brief events, this is because they’re unlikely to be observed at an exact time point

33
Q

Give examples of instantaneous recording time intervals?

A

2 minutes
2 seconds
2 days

34
Q

Can you use different combinations of sampling and recording methods for different behaviours?

A

Yes
You may also use the following in the same study:
- instantaneous recording, scan sampling for states
- continuous recording , conspicuous behaviour sampling for key events

35
Q

What was the hypothesis for Charlotte Burns’ PhD study in cleaning rat pens?

A

Cage cleaning rats too frequently could cause aggression

Cage cleaning rats too rarely could cause longer latency to settle down after cleaning

36
Q

How did Charlotte Burns’ 2006 conduct their PhD study?

A

Over a 5 month period the rats were split into , 4 test groups where they’d have their cages cleaned either every 3-4 days, 7 days, 14 days
The experiment also looked at 2 different types of bedding, normal bedding and another bedding that kept ammonia levels low
Every 2 weeks they measured the rats behaviour for 45 minutes a day before cage cleaning and then immediately after cage cleaning
Charlotte Burns’ also assessed:
- frequency of rats sneezing
- histopathology slides after the rats had died from euthanasia
- ‘skirmishing’ frequency
The behaviour recorded were relatively brief and were recorded continuously using conspicuous behaviour sampling
Latency to settle down was recorded in terms of proportion of rat activity:resting per cage
Latency to settle down was relatively a long-lasting state which was recorded instantaneously at 0, 15 and 30 minutes using scan sampling

37
Q

What were Charlotte Burns’ PhD findings?

A

That rats that had their cages cleaned in shorter intervals had a shorter latency to settle down as they were more used to it
The study also showed that the frequency of rats sneezing did not depend on the cage cleaning frequency
However the frequency of rats sneezing did depend on the type of bedding
Standard bedding caused much more sneezing, and respiratory damage generally compared to the new paper bedding
This was a study in 2006, but it is still commonly thought that rats naturally sneeze a lot when this is not true

38
Q

Name some other specialist techniques for sampling and recording

A

Operant set ups
Accelerometers
GPS trackers

39
Q

Give an example of a ‘operant set up’

A

An example is the Skinner box where a live animal is placed inside a box and responds to a stimulus
This set up can automatically record stimulus-response behaviour since the animal is essentially recording the data for you
For example the animal can pull a lever when exposed to a stimulus

40
Q

What can accelerometers measure?

A

Gate
Posture
Activity levels

Accelerometers can automate some aspects of behavioural recording

41
Q

What can GPS trackers be used for?

A

GPS trackers can enable macro-observations of behaviour

You can get frequencies and duration of certain aspects of migration

42
Q

Name 2 specialist techniques for analysis data

A

Social network analysis

Markov chain analysis

43
Q

What is social network analysis?

A

Social network analysis can be used to assess social structures of animal populations
This is where you measure certain interactions between individuals and then place it into a software to assess the social structure of the animal population

44
Q

What does Markov chain analysis do?

A

Markov chain analysis helps identify patterns or sequences of behaviour
It is good at showing:
- which behaviours tend to follow one another
- quantifying repetitive behaviours

45
Q

What is blinding?

A

Blinding = not knowing the context/external variables that aren’t being recorded

46
Q

Is blinding difficult to do in behavioural studies?

A

Blinding in behaviour studies is often difficult when you can see the behaviour and it’s context
This can lead to subjective and biased recording

47
Q

What did Burghardt et al 2012 find in a study they did?

A

That only around 6.3% of animal behavioural studies included blinding in the past 50 years
There’s lots of ways to blind in a test so the percentage should be higher and more effort should be put into blinding in animal behavioural studies
Blinding not being done is not a unique problem associated with animal behavioural studies, it’s seen throughout science

48
Q

What happened in 2014?

A

In 2014 Tuyttens et al did a study to measure observer bias in research

49
Q

How did Tuyttens et al 2014 conduct their experiment?

A

Tuyttens et al got a group of veterinary students and trained them in:

       - Recording negative and positive interactions between pigs
       - Scoring panting behaviour in cattle
       - Applying Qualitative Behaviour Assessments to describe the behaviour seen in hens

The students were shown 2 videos for each scenario
For 1 of the videos in each pair the students were given false information about the animals condition before watching it

50
Q

What were Tuyttens et al 2014’s findings?

A

Tuyttens et al, saw that in all trials there was evidence of expectation bias
- Students scored more positive interactions when told that the pigs had been selected for high social breeding value
- The students scored cattle panting more when told that the air temperature was 5’C higher than in reality
- The students described hens as showing more positive emotions when told that the hens were from organic farms instead of actually still being in a conventional farm
However the pair of videos used for each scenario were the same, just slightly altered

51
Q

What 4 ways can ensure ‘blinding’?

A

1) Ensure someone else administers the treatment, if the treatment cannot be obviously seen
2) Use videos with coded labels if the relevant context can’t be seen in them
3) Ask someone blind to the hypothesis to record the behaviour instead of you
This is useful if the treatment/context is clear to see
4) As a last resort you must:
- acknowledge and challenge your bias
- acknowledge that your hypothesis could be wrong

52
Q

Is observer reliability a problem to animal behavioural sciences?

A

No

53
Q

Part of objective science is that reality is agreed upon by multiple people, so define objectivity

A

Objectivity = the reality of the situation is universally agreed on as fact due to the evidence generated to show it

54
Q

What can checking observer reliability prevent?

A

Subjectivity

This means that the data recorded can be agreed to represent the reality of the situation by everyone instead of just your view point on what has happened

55
Q

What are the 2 types of observer reliability?

A

Intra-observer reliability

Inter-observer reliability

56
Q

What is inter-observer reliability also known as?

A

Inter-observer agreement

57
Q

What is intra-observer reliability?

A

This is about how consistent are you at recording the data in the same way

58
Q

What is inter-observer reliability?

A

This is about whether or not other people would agree that your recording method is reliable

59
Q

What happened in 2006?

A

The Working Equine Welfare Assessment had it’s intra-observer reliability and inter-observer reliability tested

60
Q

Who created the Working Equine Welfare Assessment?

A

The Brook Hospital for Animals charity

61
Q

What was the Working Equine Welfare Assessment designed for?

A

Assessing horses and donkey welfare in developing countries

62
Q

How was the Working Equine Welfare Assessment study conducted?

A

Within the assessment 5 observers and the person who trained them would assess 80 horses and 80 donkeys
Then 2-4 days later the assessors would assess 40 of each species a second time
This method was created to test intra-observer reliability and inter-observer reliability
Kappa and Kendell’s W test was then used to statistically test observer agreement

63
Q

What were the findings of the Working Equine Welfare Assessment 2006 study?

A

The statistical test showed that there was significantly more agreement in welfare assessments for the horses than the donkeys
This could be due to:
- the observers being more familiar with horses
- donkeys tend to be more stoic
The statistical tests found that the following tests were reliable:
- chin contact
- observer approach
- tail-tuck
However the statistical tests also showed that the assessment was not reliable for testing aggression and general demeanor
This meant that the assessment for aggression and general demeanor needed updating and extra training to correctly distinguish

64
Q

Animal behaviour is often affected by human presence which means?

A

Humans may affect animal behaviour by watching them

65
Q

Give some examples of why animal behaviour would be affected by human presence

A

Some animals perceive humans as predators causing them to display fear responses
Some animals perceive humans as a food source causing them to display begging behaviour

66
Q

Name an observer effect example

A

The ‘clever Hans’ effect

67
Q

What is the clever Hans effect based off of?

A

Hans was a horse that could supposedly count/do maths equations by tapping out the correct number with his hoof
Due to how amazing this was people decided to study Hans
What they found was that Hans couldn’t do maths he was just good at picking up cues from the surrounding humans body language

68
Q

What does the ‘clever Hans’ effect teach us?

A

It shows us that animals can associate very subtle cues in our behaviour to get rewards
This means that if we want an animal to behave a certain way we can unintentionally bias our results by the animal taking cues from our body language

69
Q

What must you do to avoid observer effects (observer bias) on the animal?

A

To avoid observer bias the researcher/people near the animal need to either be:
- blind to what’s being tested
Or
- have a standard position which will not cause the animal to behave in a certain way

70
Q

Name an example of an experiment where observer effects altered animal behaviour

A

2009 spayed rabbit experiment

71
Q

What was the 2009 spayed rabbit experiment about?

A

In 2009 a study was done on rabbits to see the efficacy of a pain killer (Meloxicam) on rabbits

72
Q

What happened in the 2009 spayed rabbit pilot study?

A

The rabbits were split into 2 groups:
- a placebo
- Meloxicam pain relief
However in the pilot study it was seen that rabbits just froze when directly observed by human live
This meant that in the pilot study no pain behaviours were observed directly

73
Q

What happened in the actual 2009 spayed rabbits study?

A

The rabbits were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 groups that either got a placebo or Meloxican pain relief

The scientists then set up a remotely controlled video camera to record the behaviour and got the rabbits habituated to the camera
An observer would then watch the footage blind to the treatment groups

The results of the study showed that Meloxican had little to no effect on the rabbits since all rabbits showed some pain behaviour after surgery
These valid results would not have been gathered if the researchers were visible to the rabbits when recording the data

74
Q

What 6 ways can you prevent observer effects?

A

1) Use remote video instead of live observations
2) Habituate animals to our presence of you need to do a live observation
3) Use a hide
Camouflage yourself to the environment so the animals don’t know you’re there
4) Stay quiet, still and down-wind
5) Be blind to the treatment/hypothesis to avoid the clever Hans effect
6) As a last resort if you can’t do the above interpret the results while taking into account any likely observer effects

75
Q

What are the 6 positives to live observations?

A

1) You can move yourself to see more clearly
2) Eyes can adjust better than current existing cameras to different lighting conditions
3) You can include the following into your data as well as visual data:
- sound/localised sound
- smell/ localised smell
This is useful if the animals have done those things without anyone seeing
4) You can analyse data as soon as you’ve finished the study
5) It is as objective as video recordings
6) It’s inexpensive since you just need:
Yourself
Pen
Paper
Good training

76
Q

What are the 2 cons to live observations?

A

1) You need to minimise observer effects and bias from cues

2) It’s harder to check observer reliability
You can minimise this by having someone scoring at the same time as you

77
Q

What are the 5 pros to video observation?

A

1) It avoids observer effects and can help with blinding
This is only true if the animal is used to the camera

2) You can always:
Fast-forward a video
Rewind a video
Slow footage down

3) It can make the continuous recording method more feasible over long periods

4) You can display what you saw to the audience
This improves science communication

5) You can use special cameras for specialist research like:
- infrared
- thermal
- night-vision

78
Q

What are the 3 cons of video observation?

A

1) Data collection can take ages
Then you also need to analyse the data which can cause the study to be 2x as long

2) Sometimes data is lost due to:
Corrupt videos
The video being too large to store

3) Sometimes the animal cannot be seen due to:
It being out of site
Poor picture quality
It being too dark

Animal Behaviour And Cognition (13 decks)

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