8.5 Studying Behaviour

• Biologie
• 9th Grade

8.5 Studying Behaviour

Textbook page 218

Observation of behaviour

What might be the difference between subjective and objective observation?

Subjective versus Objective

Subjective	Objective
He is angry	He shows his teeth
He looks afraid	His tail is between his legs
He wants food	He barks and jumps when de drawer opens

Objective observations

DO NOT:	DO:
interpret	describe clearly
use anthropomorphisms	describe in detail
project emotions	describe in time

How would you investigate an animal's behaviour scientifically?

Subjective versus Objective

Subjective	Objective
He is angry	He shows his teeth
He looks afraid	His tail is between his legs
He wants food	He barks and jumps when de drawer opens

Objective observations

DO NOT:	DO:
interpret	describe clearly
use anthropomorphisms	describe in detail
project emotions	describe in time

Dog fetching stick

Dog fetching stick

Many 

different behavioural units

Which behavioural units have you seen?

Which behavioural units
have you seen?

Dog fetching stick

sitting

running towards stick

grabbing stick

running to owner

dropping stick

standing looking at stick

sitting down

Ethogram

Describes behavioural units and gives abbreviations

Behavioural unit

Abbr.

Description

Ethogram

Behavioural unit	Abbr .	Description
sitting		dog sits with butt on ground
looking at stick		dog looks at stick
running towards stick		dog runs away from owner and towards stick
grabbing stick		dog bites stick and keeps it in its mouth
running to owner		dog runs with stick in its mouth to owner
dropping stick		dog drops stick

Ethogram

Behavioural unit	Abbr .	Description
sitting	Si	dog sits with butt on ground
looking at stick	Ls	dog looks at stick
running towards stick	Rs	dog runs away from owner and towards stick
grabbing stick	Gs	dog bites stick and keeps it in its mouth
running to owner	Ro	dog runs with stick in its mouth to owner
dropping stick	Ds	dog drops stick

Protocol

Chart for recording the behaviour: when and how often

intervals	1 (30 s)	2 (60 s)	3 (90 s)	4 (120 s)
0 - 3 s
3 - 6 s
6 - 9 s
9 - 12 s

Protocol

intervals	1 (30 s)	2 (60 s)	3 (90 s)	4 (120 s)
0 - 3 s
3 - 6 s
6 - 9 s
9 - 12 s
12 - 15 s
15 - 18 s
18 - 21 s
21 - 24 s
24 - 27 s
27 - 30 s

Protocol

intervals	1 (30 s)	2 (60 s)	3 (90 s)	4 (120 s)
0 - 3 s
3 - 6 s
6 - 9 s
9 - 12 s
12 - 15 s
15 - 18 s
18 - 21 s
21 - 24 s
24 - 27 s
27 - 30 s

Toc!

Ethogram

Behavioural unit	Abbr .	Description
sitting	Si	dog sits with butt on ground
looking at stick	Ls	dog looks at stick
running towards stick	Rs	dog runs away from owner and towards stick
grabbing stick	Gs	dog bites stick and keeps it in its mouth
running to owner	Ro	dog runs with stick in its mouth to owner
dropping stick	Ds	dog drops stick

Have your ethogram with you!

Ethogram

Behavioural unit	Abbr .	Description
sitting	Si	dog sits with butt on ground
looking at stick	Ls	dog looks at stick
running towards stick	Rs	dog runs away from owner and towards stick
grabbing stick	Gs	dog bites stick and keeps it in its mouth
running to owner	Ro	dog runs with stick in its mouth to owner
dropping stick	Ds	dog drops stick

Protocol

intervals	1 (30 s)	2 (60 s)	3 (90 s)	4 (120 s)
0 - 3 s	Si
3 - 6 s	Rs
6 - 9 s	Gs
9 - 12 s	Ro
12 - 15 s	Ro
15 - 18 s	Ds
18 - 21 s	Ls
21 - 24 s	Si
24 - 27 s	Si
27 - 30 s	Si

Practice!

Ethogram

Describes behavioural units and gives abbreviations

Behavioural unit	Abbr .	Description
sitting		dog sits with butt on ground

Photo of your ethogram

Ethogram

Behavioural unit	Abbr .	Description
Digging	Di	Digging with front paws
Kicking	Ki	Kicking dirt with hind paws
Walking and sniffing	Ws	Walking while snifing ground
Pushing	Pu	Pushing snout into dirt
Eating	Ea	Eating food
Looking	Lo	Sitting down looking around

Assignment

See Lesmateriaal > Chapter 8

Also: see chat

Print it out (or read it from your screen)

Questions

• How many behavioural units can you have?
•  it is better to don't use playing and sleeping? because you are not sure if that is true? is that right?
•  Do we need to observe 1 animal or more? 
•  Do we need to write down all the abbreviation or only the ones on the 20 seconds?

Answers about the observations

1st observation: 

describe every behavioural unit you see during an x number of minutes. The x depend on how active the animal is:

• less minutes if you see a lot happening in a short period of time, 
• more minutes if the animal is less active. This becomes your list of behavioural units with abbreviations: an ethogram.

Answers about the observations

Second observation: 

this is to answer your research question. 

Observe the same or a similar animal again (could be a different video) and then note the RELEVANT behavioural units you see every 20 seconds. If the animal is active and you see something at 0, 5, 9, 17 and 20 seconds, then only write down the ones at 0 and 20 seconds: This is your protocol.

Glossary Puzzle WB p. 250

Your Puzzle Photo

What was difficult?

What went well?