Even the seemingly simplest mammalian behaviors, such as grooming one’s offspring, involve a complex series of tiny movements that may be invisible to the human eye. But in studying those behaviors, how to break them down into reliable, measurable components?
Defining, quantifying and assessing mammalian behavior is a thorny problem. Besides a shift in thinking to incorporate the complexity of animals’ actions, “it really takes a great deal of experience and some training to approach behavior work correctly,” says Mark Kristal, a psychologist at the University of Buffalo in New York. Scientists come across a number of challenges in imaging and measuring behaviors in the lab and field. For one, testing or observing behavior can interfere with the behavior itself. In studying maternal behaviors in rats, researchers have too much to measure and less than 21 days in which to do it. Assessments of fearful behaviors such as freezing can ...
