Tinbergen's Behavior Model in Depth
ExternalSensorsExternalSensor
Effectors
Environment
Organism
FAP #1FAP #2Sign Stimulus
ActivationCenter
Pattern GeneratorsPG#1PG#2IRMMotor Neurons+++
Intrinsic Motivational
Factors (physiological state of
organism)
InternalSensors
+ or -
Hormonal Levels+ or -ExternalOperational
(motivational)Factors
+ or -
Operational (motivational) pulses from higher level (if any)
+ or -
• Observing vs. Watching
Measuring Animal Behavior
• The Detection Problem• The observability of different subjects• The problem of observer differences• Identification of subjects
• Identification and description of action patterns (ethograms, more later) and behavioral relics.
Measuring Animal Behavior, cntd.
• Quantification (mensuration) - how do we measure behaviors? Not always possible.
• ad libitum (L. "at pleasure")
• Focal-animal sampling
• Scan (instantaneous) sampling
• One-zero sampling
Observer Sampling Techniques
• Single muscle contractions
• Action Patternsmultiple contractions into a
functional sequencestereotypedspecies-typical
• Complex Patterns consist of many linked action patterns
Units of Behavior
Catalog of behaviors and postures (ie., of action patterns)
• Name (short, descriptive, but “non -judgmental”)• Description (only relevant ones need be included)
• Form • Velocity• Duration• Amplitude• Orientation
• Drawings
Ethograms
Examples of Descriptive Drawings
Further Examples
Notice that this behavior actually consists of several action patterns.
Whether to catagorize them as separate or together depends in large part on whether one reliably follows another.
Kinematic Diagrams
Graphs that can be used to understand likely linkages of action patterns.
bd bill dip hs head shake pw preen wing tw tail wag wf wing flap bs bill shake
Abbreviations for Behaviors
Behavior Sequence
(note that time is not part of this description)
Making a Kinematic Diagram
Followed by:
Behavior bd hs pw wf tw total bd 0 9 1 0 0 10 hs 1 5 8 2 0 16 pw 7 2 0 0 0 9 wf 0 0 0 0 2 2 tw 2 0 0 0 0 2
total 39
Primary Transition Matrix:
Making a Kinematic Diagram: Sequence Data
bd hs pw wf tw total bd 0 9/10=0.9 1/10=0.1 0 0 1.0 hs 1 /16=0.0625 5/16=0.3125 8/16=0.5 2/16=0.125 0 1.0
Followed by:
Behavior bd hs pw wf tw total bd 0 9 1 0 0 10 hs 1 5 8 2 0 16 pw 7 2 0 0 0 9 wf 0 0 0 0 2 2 tw 2 0 0 0 0 2
total 39
Our primary transition matrix
Calculations of transition frequencies for the first two behaviors
Making a Kinematic Diagram:Calculation of transition frequencies
bd hs pw wf tw total
bd 0 9/10=0.9 1/10=0.1 0 0 1.0
Making the diagram
hspwbd0.90.1(10)(9)(16)
Making a Kinematic DiagramAdding the Behaviors
wfhs
pwbd
0.9
0.1
0.5
0.0625
0.125
0.3125
bd hs pw wf tw total
bd 0 0.9 0.1 0 0 1.0 hs 0.0625 0.3125 0.5 0.125 0 1.0 pw 0.7778 0.2857 0 0 0 1.0 wf 0 0 0 0 1.0 1.0 tw 1.0 0 0 0 0 1.0
Making a Kinematic Diagram: Adding More Transitions
bd hs pw wf tw total
bd 0 0.9 0.1 0 0 1.0 hs 0.0625 0.3125 0.5 0.125 0 1.0 pw 0.7778 0.2857 0 0 0 1.0 wf 0 0 0 0 1.0 1.0 tw 1.0 0 0 0 0 1.0
twwf
hs
pw
bd
0.9
0.1
0.5
0.0625
0.125
0.7778
0.2857
1.0
1.0
0.3125
The Completed Diagram
• Often involve “behaviors” -- groups of action patterns -- instead of action patterns.
• Using one of the observational techniques mentioned earlier, measure the amount of time spent on a series of behaviors.
Time Budgets
Experimental Data in Ethology
Lab vs. field experiments:
• Control of extraneous variables vs. realism.
Natural Experiments: a situation where nature, unknown to the experimenter at the time, has already produced a situation that can be used as an experimental test of some hypothesis. Dangers?
Manipulated Variable Experiments in the Field
Beewolves -- parasitoids of bees
Designator Action Pattern and Brief Description
H Hover -- hang in water column with fins NOT spread
BR Bottom Rest
B Breathing (surfacing and gulping air)
FS Fin Swim -- slow swimming using pectoral fins; without fins in spread condition
SS Serpentine Swim -- rapid, uses entire body and S-shaped movements without fins in spread condition
S Shaking -- Does the shimmy: shimmies body, usually with fins and gills spread
GS Gill Spread -- only indicate this if the behavior is not done as part of one of the next 5 behaviors.
FSH Fin Spread with body horizontal to mirror. This may include periods of gill spreading as part of the action pattern.
FSP Fin Spread Display with body perpendicular to mirror. This may include periods of gill spreading as part of the action pattern.
A "Arches" body. This may include periods of gill spreading as part of the action pattern.
Ch Charge mirror -- approach rapidly but does touch. This may start from FSP. A charging fish may have its fins and gills spread. A movement towards the mirror out of a display makes the behavior a charge.
Ct Contact mirror -- same as above but with actual contact. Watch approach before designating as either Ch or Ct. Probably a rare behavior for most fish.
L Leave -- swim away from mirror
Betta ethogram data