Brilot Ben O, Asher Lucy, Feenders Gesa, Bateson Melissa
Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Behav Processes. 2009 Nov;82(3):256-64. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2009.07.003. Epub 2009 Jul 19.
Stereotypies are repetitive, unvarying and goalless behaviour patterns that are often considered indicative of poor welfare in captive animals. Quantifying stereotypies can be difficult, particularly during the early stages of their development when behaviour is still flexible. We compared two methods for objectively quantifying the development of route-tracing stereotypies in caged starlings. We used Markov chains and T-pattern analysis (implemented by the software package, Theme) to identify patterns in the sequence of locations a bird occupied within its cage. Pattern metrics produced by both methods correlated with the frequency of established measures of stereotypic behaviour and abnormal behaviour patterns counted from video recordings, suggesting that both methods could be useful for identifying stereotypic individuals and quantifying stereotypic behaviour. We discuss the relative benefits and disadvantages of the two approaches.
刻板行为是重复性、不变且无目的的行为模式，通常被认为是圈养动物福利不佳的表现。量化刻板行为可能很困难，尤其是在其发展的早期阶段，此时行为仍具有灵活性。我们比较了两种客观量化笼养椋鸟中路径追踪刻板行为发展的方法。我们使用马尔可夫链和T模式分析（由软件包Theme实现）来识别鸟类在其笼内占据的位置序列中的模式。两种方法产生的模式指标都与从视频记录中统计的既定刻板行为和异常行为模式的频率相关，这表明两种方法都可用于识别刻板行为个体和量化刻板行为。我们讨论了这两种方法的相对优缺点。
