Practical: Measuring Behaviour

Question 1

What is a behavioural activity budget?

Answer 1

Tells us what behaviours are most important to the animal and what they are motivated to do

Question 2

Compare a STATE behaviour vs an EVENT behaviour

Answer 2

State: Long duration behaviour that typically occurs over a longer period of time
- Often using a interval recording method

Event: Short duration behaviours that typically occur over a few seoncs
- Often using a continuous recording method

Question 3

How are state/event behaviours CALCULATED

Answer 3

Basic Time Budget for STATE BEHAVIOURS:
- Calculated as a percentage of time
(minutes of behaviour / total time) x 100

FREQUENCY OF OCCURANCE for EVENT BEHAVIOURS:
- Number of counts for each event / total observation period inminutes
- Tells us how many times on average behaviour was occurred every minute

Question 4

What is continuous sampling used for?

Answer 4

Recording EVENT behaviours
- Requires concentration
- Useful to behaviour that occurs in a set routine
- Necessary for true frequencies / duration

Question 5

What is scan sampling?

Answer 5

Records STATE behaviours
- Instantaneous (point) / time sampling
- Records periodically - divided into sample intervals
- Records whether a behaviour is occuring at a particular point

Question 6

What is inter-observer reliability?

Answer 6

Used to assess the degree to which two or more observers agree and are consistent in their estimates of the same behaviour