David Morgan, Auclair Yannick, Dechaume-Moncharmont François-Xavier, Cézilly Frank
Universite de Bourgogne, Dijon, France.
J Comp Psychol. 2012 Feb;126(1):10-4. doi: 10.1037/a0024636. Epub 2011 Jul 18.
Although increasing attention is given to both the causes and consequences of variation in animal personality, the measurement of personality in captive or free-ranging individuals remains an issue. In particular, one important question concerns whether personality should be established from the existence of complex behavioral syndromes (a suite of correlated behavioral traits) or could be more easily deduced from a single variable. In that context, it has recently been suggested that handling stress, measured through breathing rate during handling, could be a good descriptor of personality, at least in passerine birds. The authors experimentally investigated to what extent handling stress was correlated with personality in female zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), as assessed from a suite of repeatable behavioral traits, including activity, exploratory behavior, neophobia, and reaction to startle. Although breathing rate was repeatable across individuals, it was not related to any behavioral trait, suggesting that it cannot be used to quickly predict personality, at least in zebra finches. Breathing rate during handling, in addition, was related to morphology, questioning the fact that breathing rate during handling reflects personality irrespective of individual state. The authors suggest that inference on global personality from a reduced number of traits should be performed with caution.
尽管人们越来越关注动物个性差异的原因和后果，但在圈养或自由放养个体中测量个性仍然是一个问题。特别是，一个重要的问题是个性应该通过复杂行为综合征（一组相关的行为特征）的存在来确定，还是可以更容易地从单一变量中推断出来。在这种情况下，最近有人提出，通过处理过程中的呼吸频率来测量的处理应激，可能是个性的一个良好描述指标，至少在雀形目鸟类中是这样。作者通过实验研究了处理应激与雌性斑胸草雀（Taeniopygia guttata）个性的相关程度，个性是根据一系列可重复的行为特征评估的，包括活动、探索行为、新事物恐惧症和惊吓反应。虽然个体间的呼吸频率是可重复的，但它与任何行为特征都无关，这表明它至少在斑胸草雀中不能用于快速预测个性。此外，处理过程中的呼吸频率与形态有关，这对处理过程中的呼吸频率无论个体状态如何都能反映个性这一观点提出了质疑。作者建议，从数量有限的特征推断整体个性时应谨慎行事。
