Understanding Animal Behaviour
What to Measure and Why

Studying behaviour in animals requires numerical measurement. This book provides a scientific framework for what to measure and why.

Sergio Pellis (Author), Vivien Pellis (Author)

9781108705103, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 May 2021

166 pages
22.8 x 15.3 x 1 cm, 0.28 kg

'… a fascinating new way of considering animal behavior … This would be a most useful text for any student or researcher of animal behaviors … Highly recommended.' D. C. Marston, Choice Magazine

All students and researchers of behaviour – from those observing freely-behaving animals in the field to those conducting more controlled laboratory studies – face the problem of deciding what exactly to measure. Without a scientific framework on which to base them, however, such decisions are often unsystematic and inconsistent. Providing a clear and defined starting point for any behavioural study, this is the first book to make available a set of principles for how to study the organisation of behaviour and, in turn, for how to use those insights to select what to measure. The authors provide enough theory to allow the reader to understand the derivation of the principles, and draw on numerous examples to demonstrate clearly how the principles can be applied. By providing a systematic framework for selecting what behaviour to measure, the book lays the foundations for a more scientific approach for the study of behaviour.

Preface
Acknowledgements
1. What is the problem and what is the solution?
2. Behaviour as a means, not an end
3.The deep structure of behavior
4. The brain is not alone
5. Bringing it all together: steps in the descriptive process
6. What of the future?
Epilogue
Appendix A. Eshkol–Wachman movement notation and descriptive analysis
Appendix B. Practice, practice, practice
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Animal behaviour [PSVP], Developmental biology [PSC], Neurosciences [PSAN], Physiological & neuro-psychology, biopsychology [JMM]