Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- 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 Behaviour
- 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
2 - Behaviour as a Means, Not an End
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 May 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- 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 Behaviour
- 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
Summary
When engaging in some behaviour, some actions by an animal are more likely to resonate with us as observers than others and those impressions often form the basis for the behavioural markers that we choose for measurement. However, as much as possible, we should view the context from the animal’s perspective as it is what is important to them that guides their behaviour. Of what the animal may be able to sense, some sensations rank as perceptions that are relevant to the animal in that context. Moreover, in dynamic situations, it is often those perceptions that the animal seeks to stabilise. This means the behaviour controls those perceptions, so many actions can be explained as being compensatory. Without knowing what an action is compensating for, actions may be mistakenly abstracted as markers to measure. So, the first principle is to identify the perceptions that are relevant to the animal.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Understanding Animal BehaviourWhat to Measure and Why, pp. 23 - 46Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021