Notes on Sampling and Recording Animal Behaviour

Sampling & Recording Behaviour

Where to Measure Behaviour?

• Natural/wild setting (observe animals in their natural habitat without interference)

• Managed park (controlled environment with some natural elements)

• Zoo or aquarium (captive environment for observation)

• Laboratory (controlled experimental environment)

• Farm (agricultural setting)

• Your own backyard (casual observation)

Why Measure Behaviour?

• Learn more about a species (understand behaviour patterns and adaptations)

• Assess an animal’s welfare (identify signs of stress or well-being)

• Changes in behaviour – health, etc. (detect early signs of illness or injury)

• Reproductive status (monitor breeding behaviour)

• Assess effectiveness of a new husbandry regime (evaluate changes in animal care)

• Group introductions (observe social dynamics during introductions)

• Territory/migratory patterns (understand spatial behaviour)

Is Animal Behaviour Measurable?

• Perceptions of empirical zoo research as ‘pointless’ persist due to non-rigorous use of statistics (Plowman, 2008).

• Need to know what the behavior is before studying its development, causes, or effects on survival, reproduction, or welfare.

• Animal behaviorists have developed ways to make describing behavior easier.

How to Measure Behaviour

• Be scientifically rigorous (use standardized methods)

• Know your animal (understand species-specific behaviour)

• Do your research (review existing literature)

• Begin with preliminary informal observations (gather initial data)

• Develop an Ethogram (create a catalogue of behaviours)

Recognizing Emotional States

• Experience significantly predicts the ability to recognize macaques' emotional states based on their facial expressions (Maréchal et al., 2017).

• Facial expressions related to emotional states:

  • Aggressive/threat face

  • Distressed/submissive face

  • Friendly/affiliative face

  • Neutral face

Ethogram

• Catalogue of an animal’s behavioural repertoire, detailing the different forms of behaviour that are displayed by an animal.

• Your specific research question will influence your ethogram

• Definitions should be clear, detailed and distinguishable from each other.

  • Why? To prevent confusion / misinterpretation of behaviours.

• Statistical tests known as ‘Kappas’ are meant to determine if observers agree sufficiently, or if studies should be rejected. This is called inter-observer reliability. Kappa values range from -1 to +1, where values close to +1 indicate near-perfect agreement, 0 indicates agreement equivalent to chance, and negative values indicate systematic disagreement.

Ethogram Examples

• Example behavior codes and descriptions:

  • Groom Self (GS)

  • Locomote (L)

  • Eat (E)

  • Look for Food (LF)

  • Groom Other (GO)

  • Play (P)

  • Fight (F)

  • Steal Food (SF)

Types of Behaviour (Ethogram Example)

• Solitary:

  • Groom Self (GS)

  • Locomote (L)

• Food-related:

  • Eat (E)

  • Look for Food (LF)

• Social:

  • Groom Other (GO)

  • Play (P)

• Aggressive:

  • Fight (F)

  • Steal Food (SF)

Guidelines for Writing Descriptions of Behaviours

• Set the stage:

  • Describe the physical setting.

  • Describe the social setting.

  • Describe the location.

• Who? What? When? Where? How?

Behaviour Description Examples

• Nibble: With jaws closed, the upper lip is moved upward and downward against an object, typically without dental contact of the object.

• Sniff/Lick: The tongue is extended through the teeth and border of the mouth, making contact with an object. It is then retracted back into the mouth, and chewing may follow. This sequence is typically repeated.

• Chew: An object is taken into the mouth with a side-to-side grinding motion of the upper and lower jaw. May include head tossing and/or forward movement of the tongue through the front teeth, ending with the object falling out of the mouth.

  • McDonell, S & Poulin, A. (2002). Equid Play Ethogram. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 78, pp. 262-290.

Importance of Observation vs. Inference

• Be sensitive to what you observe (what you know and can verify) versus what you infer (what you think you know or what you have concluded).

• Separate what YOU see from what may be human-focused behavior. Be specific, not general, in your description. AVOID ANTHROPOMORPHISM!

Types of Behaviour Patterns

• Events: Behaviour pattern of relatively short duration.

  • Related to a point in time.

  • Measurement: frequency of occurrence.

  • Example: Number of times a lamb bleats per minute when separated from its mother.

• States: Behaviour pattern of relatively long duration.

  • Measurement: duration.

  • Example: A dog may spend 3 hours asleep, or a horse may spend 2 hours grazing.

Types of Measure

1. Latency: From one event to the onset of the first occurrence of the behaviour. Latency is crucial in experimental settings where the promptness of a response matters.

   • Example: Animal placed in Skinner box (timing starts), animal presses lever (timing ceases). Time interval recorded = latency.

2. Frequency: Number of occurrences of behaviour per unit of time (rate of occurrence of event). Frequency measurements are essential when assessing how often a behaviour occurs in a given time frame.

   • Example: Animal licks its coat 30 times in 1 hr, the frequency is 0.5 licks per min. $\frac{30}{60} = 0.5$

3. Duration: Length of time for which a single occurrence of behaviour lasts. Measuring duration is vital in understanding the temporal aspects of behaviour.

   • Example: A calf starts to suckle and continues for 4 mins, the period of suckling is 4 mins. This can be converted to proportion, e.g., during a 10-minute observation period, the calf suckled for 4 min. $\frac{4}{10} = 0.40$

4. Intensity: Defined according to behaviour – no standard unit (e.g., sound level, the amount of prey captured, the level of aggressiveness of a social interaction). Intensity measures the magnitude or strength of a behavior and can offer insights into emotional or motivational states.

   • Local rate = no. of component acts per unit time, e.g., number of food items eaten per min spent eating.

Sampling Behaviour

• Ensure samples are representative of all the animals you measure (male, female, adult, juvenile, sick, injured, pregnant, etc.).

• Sampling Rules: Which subjects to watch and when?

  • Ad libitum

  • Focal

  • Scan

  • Behaviour

• Recording Rules: How behaviour is recorded?

  • Continuous recording

  • Time sampling (instantaneous/one-zero)

Sampling and Recording Methods

• Sampling Rules:

  • Ad libitum sampling

  • Focal sampling

  • Scan sampling

  • Behaviour sampling

• Recording Rules:

  • Continuous Recording (CR)

  • Time Sampling

  • Instantaneous Sampling (IS)

  • One-Zero Sampling (1/0)

Sampling Rules Explained

• Scan Sampling: The recorder notes the behaviour of an individual or many individuals at regular time intervals. Scan sampling offers a snapshot of group dynamics and is useful for large groups.

• Focal Sampling: The recorder chooses one individual and records all behaviours performed by the individual in a specified time window. This provides comprehensive data on individual behavior.

• Behaviour Sampling: Watching the whole group and recording each occurrence of a certain behaviour(s). This is suitable for rare or specific behaviours.

• Ad-libitum Sampling: The recorder notes down all behaviour(s) which they deem relevant, without constraints on which animal to watch. Ad libitum sampling can be useful in preliminary observations.

Instantaneous Scan Sampling

• Easiest and quickest way of recording behaviour.

• Suitable for testing hypotheses about group behaviour.

• A single scan may take a few seconds/several minutes.

• Restricted to simple behaviours.

• Biased towards conspicuous behaviours.

• Requires a large sample size to get comparative results.

Scan Sampling Procedure

• The observer records the animals’ behaviour at predetermined ‘points’ in time.

• This method works well with common behavioural ‘states’ (e.g., postures) or ‘events,’ but not for infrequent behaviours (e.g., interactions, e.g.; aggression/mating).

• At fixed intervals (e.g., every 1 minute or 10 mins), the whole group/individual is scan-sampled, and the behavior of each individual at that instance in time is recorded.

• Example:

Scan Sampling – Choosing Sampling Interval?

• Depends upon how many categories of behaviour you are recording and how many animals are present.

• Shorter the sample interval = the more accurate the behavioural record will be BUT….

• Shorter interval = difficult to record everything accurately – beware of non-independence of data!!

Focal Sampling Explained

• Most satisfactory method for studying behaviour in detail.

• Requires you to record interactions

• Focal animal may be out of view/obscured . . normal behaviour??

• Explicit rules are needed for deciding what to do if the animal disappears

• Refrain from bias (choosing cutest/most active)

• Requires the most practice/experience

Behaviour Sampling Explained

• Mainly used for recording significant behaviours (fights, copulations) or secretive animals!

• “See the behaviour, record it”

• Unpredictable behaviours can be witnessed (courtship)

• Unsuitable for questions/investigations on time spent performing behaviour

Ad Libitum Sampling Explained

• No constraints on what is recorded.

• Simply note what is visible/relevant.

• Suitable for preliminary/pilot studies.

• Biased towards conspicuous behaviours/individuals.

• Can miss brief responses/social interactions.

• Unsuitable for questions/ investigations on time spent performing a behaviour.

• Not scientifically rigorous.

Summary of Methods

1. Ad libitum – record any behaviours at any time that you feel are relevant.

2. Scan – every N minutes, record the behaviour being performed by each group member.

3. Focal – record all behaviours for the focal individual and how long each is performed for an individual animal.

4. Behaviour – Focus on E.G. ‘aggressive behaviour’ and record its frequency - anything of note in relation to that behaviour.

One-Zero Sampling

• Recording session divided into intervals.

• At the sample point, you record whether or not the behaviour of interest has occurred.

• Done irrespective of the duration of or when the behaviour occurred.

• Example: 50/120 sample intervals, this behaviour was observed = 0.42 is the score for that sampling interval for that behaviour.

One-Zero Sampling Protocols

• A time interval is chosen e.g.; 15 mins

• 1 = behaviour present, 0 = behaviour absent in the time interval chosen.

• NB: a category should not be left blank - that implies missing data!

• Example:

One-Zero Sampling: Advantages & Disadvantages

• Can underestimate the number of bouts performed

• Can overestimate duration to some extent

• Some behaviourists suggest that it should never be used

• Allows large groups to be studied in relation to a select group of behaviours

Scenarios: Identifying Sampling Rules

1. A group of chimpanzees are observed, and information is recorded when tool use behaviour (to acquire food) is performed and by which individual. = Behaviour sampling

2. A recorder observed a serval for 3 hours and notes down all behaviours performed within this time frame. = Focal sampling

3. A group of meerkats are being observed, all relevant behaviours are recorded at all times. = Ad libitum sampling

4. A recorder observes a group of lemurs and notes down the behaviours performed by each individual every 5 minutes. = Scan sampling

5. Within a wolf pack, the alpha pair are observed, and all behaviours performed within a 2-hour time period are recorded. = Focal sampling

Comparison Between Continuous Recording and Time Sampling

• Continuous recording: Total duration =$a+b+c+d=39 + 16 + 12 + 28 = 95$ units of time.

• Mean duration = $\frac{95}{4} = 23.8$ units of time.

• Proportion of time spent performing the behaviour pattern = $\frac{95}{160} = 0.59$.

• Frequency = $\frac{4}{t}=0.025$ per unit time.

• Total number of bouts = 4.

• Instantaneous sampling: Score = 9/16 = 0.56

• One-zero sampling: Score = 13/16 = 0.81

• Note that instantaneous sampling gives a reasonably close approximation to the proportion of time spent performing the behaviour pattern (0.56 versus 0.59) and accurately records that four separate bouts occurred. One-zero sampling considerably over-estimates the proportion of time spent (0.81 versus 0.59) and records only three separate bouts.

Scenarios: Choosing Sampling and Recording Methods

• Scenario 1: Elephant mating behaviour

• Scenario 2: Meerkat aggression

• Scenario 3: Sloth interaction

Scenario 1: Elephants (Loxodonta africana)

• A herd of female elephants within a safari park are displaying signs of mating behaviours towards the male.

• The male is cordoned off away from the herd (however still within sight and trunk reach).

• The safari rangers need to know if it is the right time to allow the male access to the herd for reproductive purposes.

• Behaviours include; female standing face to face with the male and intertwining trunks with the male; elephants may stand head-to head, touching mouths and link/circle trunks, and/or the male elephant may press his chin on the female elephant back or shoulders to see if she is receptive to being mounted.

Scenario 2: Meerkats (Suricata suricatta)

• A group of meerkats have outgrown their enclosure and it appears to be putting a strain on the groups’ social structure.

• The zoo is concerned that one or two of the younger males within the group are being bullied (aggressive behaviour).

• May have to resort to removing the two younger males from the group but do not want to resort to such drastic action until vital behavioural observations have been undertaken to ensure they are making the right decision.

Scenario 3: Maned (three-toed) sloth (Bradypus torquatus)

• A zoo has recently acquired two female maned sloths; they are usually solitary animals, although females have been known to tolerate living in the same area and feeding off the same trees.

• The zoo keepers are unfamiliar with this species (with no experience of keeping sloths before) and are anxious regarding how the sloths have settled into their new enclosure.

• The new keepers have concerns that one of the sloths appears to be losing weight and are concerned about rivalry between the two perhaps preventing the other from gaining proper access to food. They have not witnessed anything untoward but would like to conduct some behavioural observations just in case.

Options Available for Collecting Behaviour Data

• Recording Mediums

  • Video recording

  • Written/Verbal Descriptions

  • Automatic Recording Devices

  • Paper Check Sheets

  • Computer Event Recorders

Designing Check Sheets

• Think about how to design a focal/scan check sheet for:

  • One rhinoceros

  • Six giraffes

Suggested Reading

• Altmann, J. (1974). Observational study of behavior: Sampling Methods. Behaviour, 49, 227-267.

• Dawkins, M.S (1995) Unravelling Animal Behaviour (2nd Edn), Ch. 8

• Dawkins, M.S. (2007) Observing Animal Behaviour: Design and Analysis of Quantitative Data, Ch. 6 ps. 89- 109

• Holmes et al. (2006) Research Methods for the Biosciences, Ch. 2 ps. 16-46

• Margulis, S.W. And Westhus, E.J. (2008) Evaluation of different observation sampling regimes for use in zoological parks, App. Animal Behav. Sci, 110: 363- 376

• Martin & Bateson (2007) Measuring Behaviour, Ch