Ethogram
Encyclopedia
An ethogram is a catalogue or inventory of all behaviours or actions exhibited by an animal used in ethology
. The behaviours in an ethogram are usually defined to be mutually exclusive and objective
, avoiding subjectivity
and functional inference as to their possible purpose.
For example, a species may use a putative threat display
, which in the ethogram is given a descriptive name such as "head forward" or "bracing display", and not "head forward threat" or "bracing threat". This degree of objectivity is required because what looks like "courtship" might have a completely different function, and in addition, the same motor patterns in different species can have very different functions. Often, ethograms are hierarchical in presentation. The defined behaviours are recorded under broader categories of behaviour which may allow functional inference such that "head forward" is recorded under "Aggression".
Sometimes, the definition of a behaviour in an ethogram may have arbitrary components. For example, "Stereotyped licking" might be defined as "licking the bars of the cage more than 5 times in 30 seconds". The definition may be arguable, but if it is stated clearly, it fulfils the requirements of scientific repeatability and clarity of reporting and data recording.
Some ethograms are given in pictorial form and not only catalogue the behaviours but indicate the frequency of their occurrence and the probability that one behaviour follows another.
Ethology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a sub-topic of zoology....
. The behaviours in an ethogram are usually defined to be mutually exclusive and objective
Objectivity (philosophy)
Objectivity is a central philosophical concept which has been variously defined by sources. A proposition is generally considered to be objectively true when its truth conditions are met and are "mind-independent"—that is, not met by the judgment of a conscious entity or subject.- Objectivism...
, avoiding subjectivity
Subjectivism
Subjectivism is a philosophical tenet that accords primacy to subjective experience as fundamental of all measure and law. In extreme forms like Solipsism, it may hold that the nature and existence of every object depends solely on someone's subjective awareness of it...
and functional inference as to their possible purpose.
For example, a species may use a putative threat display
Threat display
Threat display is a type of display behaviour aiming at intimidation of a potential enemy. It may be directed at a rival of the same species , or at a potential threat from a different species....
, which in the ethogram is given a descriptive name such as "head forward" or "bracing display", and not "head forward threat" or "bracing threat". This degree of objectivity is required because what looks like "courtship" might have a completely different function, and in addition, the same motor patterns in different species can have very different functions. Often, ethograms are hierarchical in presentation. The defined behaviours are recorded under broader categories of behaviour which may allow functional inference such that "head forward" is recorded under "Aggression".
Sometimes, the definition of a behaviour in an ethogram may have arbitrary components. For example, "Stereotyped licking" might be defined as "licking the bars of the cage more than 5 times in 30 seconds". The definition may be arguable, but if it is stated clearly, it fulfils the requirements of scientific repeatability and clarity of reporting and data recording.
Some ethograms are given in pictorial form and not only catalogue the behaviours but indicate the frequency of their occurrence and the probability that one behaviour follows another.