PRIMATE BEHAVIOR
Second Edition
An Exercise Workbook (and CD-ROM?)
J.D. Paterson
University of Calgary
Waveland Press, Inc.
Prospect Heights, Illinois
2001
CONTENTS
Preface xi
PART 1 THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 1
Chapter 1 An Introduction to the Observation of Nonhuman Primate Behavior 3
Chapter 2 Methodology in Primate Behavior 13
Chapter 3 Defining Behavior and Coding 35
Chapter 4 A Statistical Primer 49
Chapter 5 The Preparation of Scientific Reports: A Beginner's Guide 63
Chapter 6 Advanced Technology: Observation Using a Computer Data Logger 77
Chapter 7 Field Gear, Equipment, and Accessories 83
PART 2 EXERCISES 97
Basic Studies: Preliminaries Necessary to all Research 105
Exercise 1 Animal Identification: Learning Faces and Bodies 107
Exercise 2 The Ethogram: A Basic Behavior Inventory 115
Exercise 3 The Observing Schedule 118
Group Comparative Studies: Appreciating Differences Between Species 121
Exercise 4 The Behavior Profile: A Comparative Study 123
Exercise 5 Time Budget: A State Behavior Duration Exercise 126
Major Modes of Observational Methods: Learning to Sample Effectively 133
Exercise 6 Scan Sampling: Instantaneous Scan Sampling of States of
Behavior/Interval Sampling 135
Exercise 7 One/Zero Sampling: (Sometimes Called Hansen Frequencies) 140
Exercise 8 Focal Time Sampling: State Behavior Interval Sampling
Procedure 144
Exercise 9 Focal Animal Sampling: Intensive Study of Behavior 150
Exercise 10 All Occurrences Sampling: Collecting Specified Forms of
Behavior 154
Exercise 11 Matched Control Sampling: Studying Reconciliation Behavior 157
Testing and Analysis: Tools for Understanding Behavior 163
Exercise 12 Inter-Observer Reliability Testing: Do Two People See the
Same Thing? 165
Exercise 13 Analytical Structures: Interaction Matrices and Sociograms 173
Ecology Field Exercises 179
Exercise 14 The Line Transect Survey: How Many Primates Live in the
Area? 181
Exercise 15 Phenological Transect Survey: What Plants Are in Which Phases
of Their Cycles in the Area? 186
Exercise 16 Home Range Survey: What Is the Group's Home Range? Quadrats
versus Least Polygon 193
Exercise 17 Vegetation Sample Plots and Indices 197
Exercise 18 Vegetative Sampling and Voucher Specimens 202
Exercise 19 Fecal Analysis: Washing and Examination for Diet 205
Applied Study Projects: Branching Out into Research Design 209
Exercise 20 A Spatial Location Study 211
Exercise 21 Exploring Postural Congruence 213
Exercise 22 A Nearest-Neighbor Study 215
Exercise 23 Sequential Behavior Studies 217
Appendix 219
Bibliography and References Cited 225
PREFACE
The discipline of primatology, and especially the field of primate
behavioral studies, is extremely attractive to students. It promises
excitement, strange and fascinating animals, exotic locations, and,
perhaps, even public acclaim on occasion. I have wandered along the
pathways of the discipline for over thirty years, always fascinated by the
behavior, morphology, physiology, but especially the ecology and evolution
of our nearest mammalian relatives. Occasionally I even succeed in passing
some of that enthusiasm on to students, who go on to their own research
careers. Few individual workers achieve the heights of fame and become
well-known public figures. Those who do, like Goodall, Galdikas, and
Fossey, become public icons. The majority of us simply "labor in the
trenches," teaching and, whenever possible, conducting our research programs.
Alas, many students only see the flash and the public attention.
They overlook the hard work that is necessary to aspire to membership in
the profession. Many students do come to recognize that primatology offers
a life of hard work, sometimes hard physical labor under uncomfortable,
even dangerous conditions, and they accept that self-discipline and
incremental progression are the cornerstones of success. I have sought to
convey the fascination, ecstasy, and frequent disappointment inherent in
scientific research to these students. Throughout my teaching career I have
tried to place an emphasis upon accuracy, precision, and effective
communication of results. (As some editors might be inclined to comment,
this latter is a case of "do as I say, not as I do.") These exercises are
an outgrowth of those principles and practices.
The first edition of this workbook was the result of more than
half a decade of experimentation in the process of teaching the skills and
techniques of observation. In the interval since its publication, I have
learned- just a few new things-and this second edition is much larger and
deals with a number of new concepts. The majority of the text has been
updated and, in many areas, completely rewritten. The statistics have been
substantially revised and grouped into categories, and the practicalities
of calculating a standard deviation have been added. A major expansion
involves a suite of field ecology exercises that several colleagues
suggested would be an enhancement and make the book useful at field school
sites.
The exercises in this series remain as they were originally, based
solidly in the scientific method and grounded upon empiricism. I hope that
they will bring students into some proximity with primates as subjects of
observation, and with the realities of scientific inquiry. It should be
recognized that even if a primate colony or zoological collection is not
available, the observational exercises can still be carried out on
squirrels, ungulates of both domestic and wild forms, on feral dogs and
cats (with suitable consideration of the dangers!), and the entire avian
realm. All of the original exercises were tested, exploiting several
hundred students as "guinea pigs" over several years. Many of the remaining
ones have been developed with the aid of senior undergraduate and graduate
students but have not been directly tested at the sophomore level.
Anyone who conceives a teaching exercise that may be suitable for
the next edition of this workbook is encouraged to communicate with me
about it. Messages can be sent via e-mail to paterson@ucalgary.ca at any time.
These exercises owe some of their structure to many colleagues.
Among the earliest sources of improvement were Andrew Petto and Claud
Bramblett. Their advice and suggestions have become so embedded in the work
that I can no longer point to their locations. Other ideas emerged from
discussions over the years with Francis Burton, Anthony Coelho Jr.,
Takamasa Koyama, Pamela Asquith, Mary Pavelka, Sue Taylor Parker, Anne
Russon, and Lisa Gould. Several graduate student teaching assistants, who
will be grateful to remain anonymous, have also been involved. I must also
thank the curators and primate keepers of the Calgary Zoological Park (some
of them were my students during the development phase, and continue to
cheerfully accept the horde of young primates who invade each fall term). I
thank Tom Curtin of Waveland Press for again undertaking the risk of
publishing this version. I especially appreciate the efforts of Jeni
Ogilvie and Sandy Smith for their detailed editing that corrected a
plentitude of my persistent errors.
The employment of the exercises in this volume is naturally up to
the individual instructor; however, the pattern in which they are used at
Calgary where we run thirteen-week semesters followed by a two-week
examination period, may be of some interest. The complete set would be more
than needed for a full-year course. I employ a subset, usually four or five
exercises, in a semester. These are a different set each time the course is
run, but usually two are from the preliminaries, and two, with higher
weighting, from the main methodology forms. Graduate students who may lack
observational experience or methods training are usually required to
conduct all of the exercises, and to perform exercise 7 using a computer
logger system to collect thirty hours of data. This pattern of use has led
to significant improvement in the observational skills of our students over
the years.
COMES WITH A CD
The CD is a standard ISO 9660 format CD-ROM, and hence should be readable
by any Winidows or Macintosh platform computer. The first instruction is
to open and examine the Read Me file. This will provide information on the
following files contained on the CD: Extras, Forms, Programs, Video, and
Worksheets. Updates will be available from the Web site
www.PrimateData.com and users are urged to consult that location.
J. D. Paterson
Airdrie and Calgary
WHERE TO ORDER:
Waveland Press, Inc.
P.O. Box 400
Prospect Heights, IL 60070
Phone: 847-634-0081
Web-site: www.waveland.com
Price: $23.95 (ISBN: 1577661656)
URL: http://www.primate.wisc.edu/pin/review/workbook.html
Page last modified:
June 28, 2001
Maintained by the WRPRC Library
Return to Review Copies Received
Return to PIN Home Page