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| a catalogue of descriptions of the discrete, species-typical behaviour patterns that form the basic behavioural repertoire of the species |
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| States are behaviour patterns of relatively long duration, such as prolonged activities, body postures or proximity measures. The salient feature of states is their duration (mean or total duration, or the proportion of time spent performing the activity). For example, the total time a dog spends asleep over a 24-h period would be a measure of the total duration of a state |
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| Events are behaviour patterns of relatively short duration, such as discrete body movements or vocalizations, which can be approximated as points in time. The salient feature of events is their frequency of occurrence. For example, the number of times a dog barks in 1 minute would be a measure of the frequency of a behavioural event |
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| Physically doing the behaviour eg digging |
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| The reason why the animal is doing such a behaviour for is example digging - is actually foraging for food |
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| In scan sampling the behaviour of all the individuals in a group of animals are recorded at predetermined time intervals. In scan sampling the behaviour of all the individuals in a group of animals are recorded at predetermined time intervals |
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| In this sampling method, all of the actions of one animal are recorded for a specified time period. For example, Animal A is being observed for five minutes. During this five minute period, all of the activities that this animal performs are recorded, while the activities of the other animals in the group are not recorded. When the time period is up, the observer moves on to Animal B to record that animal's activities. This continues until all of the animals in the group have been observed for the specified time period. |
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| The instantaneous sampling method is a frequently used sampling method in animal behaviour. While using the instantaneous sampling method, the observer records the behaviour of an individual in a group at predetermined time intervals. This sampling methods records states, rather than events. An example of this sampling method would be to record the behaviour of an individual animal at one minute intervals for a twelve hour period of time. |
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| Continuous sampling method is another sampling method that is frequently used to observe behaviour. When using this method, the observer simply records all of the activity that occurs while the animals are being watched. This sampling method is very helpful in recording social interaction between two or more animals in a group. An example of this sampling method would be to record when bunts, chases, fights, feeding bouts, nursing bouts, etc., occur during the period of observation. |
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| (Probability Value) The P value, or calculated probability, is the probability of finding the observed, or more extreme, results when the null hypothesis (H0) of a study question is true – the definition of ‘extreme’ depends on how the hypothesis is being tested. P is also described in terms of rejecting the null hypothesis (H0 ) when it is actually true, however, it is not a direct probability of this state. |
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| The null hypothesis is usually an hypothesis of "no difference" e.g. no difference between blood pressures in group A and group B. Define a null hypothesis for each study question clearly before the start of your study. |
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| process by which traits are favoured because of their beneficial effects on the fitness of relatives. |
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| A gene for altruism will only spread if the fitness benefits outweigh the fitness costs. Benefits calculated in terms of number of offspring x degree of relatedness (that would not have survived without the altruistic act). Costs calculated by number of direct offspring not produced as a result of performing the altruistic act. |
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| Helpful behaviour that raises the recipient’s direct fitness while lowering the donor’s direct fitness. |
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| Obligate altruism is the permanent loss of direct fitness (with potential for indirect fitness gain). For example, honey bee workers may forage for the colony. Facultative altruism is temporary loss of direct fitness (with potential for indirect fitness gain followed by personal reproduction) example: Florida scrub jay helping at the nest, then gaining parental territory |
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| temporary loss of direct fitness (with potential for indirect fitness gain and then by personal reproduction) |
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| A mutually beneficial relationship or cooperative action. Cooperation between species. Mutual benefit: a behaviour which is beneficial to both the actor and the recipient. |
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| A helpful action is repaid at a later date by the recipient of assistance. Delayed benefit- ultimately both benefit so not use term ‘reciprocal altruism’ anymore and it is not really altruistic. |
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| the component of fitness gained through the impact of an individual’s behaviour on the production of offspring. |
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| the component of fitness gained from aiding the reproduction of related individuals. |
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| sum of an individual's fitness measured by reproductive success and the fitness of the relatives, weighted in proportion to their genetic distance from the individual |
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| An approach that entails gathering data in one form or another and drawing inferences from that data. Empirical approaches in ethology can take many forms but most often is either observational or experimental. |
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| An approach that entails the generation of a predictive model- usually a mathematical model |
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| An approach that usually entails integrating ideas generated in different disciplines and combining them in a new cohesive way |
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| An evolutionary theory based on the assumption that the attributes of organisms are optimal, i.e., better than others in terms of the ratio of fitness benefits to costs: the theory is used to generate hypotheses about the possible adaptive value of traits in terms of the net fitness gained by individuals that exhibit these attributes |
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Benefit- Cost
Can be applied to yield quantitative predictions |
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| MINITAB - Stat> tables> Chi squared goodness of fit test. You will find the chi squared value and the p value. |
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| MINITAB - >Stats>Basic Statistics>Correlation. If you have carried out a Spearman’s rank correlation the coefficient is written as rs in your results not r. |
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