Pellis Sergio - Understanding Animal Behaviour

Understanding Animal Behaviour

What to Measure and Why

All students and researchers of behaviour from those observing animals behaving freely in the field to those conducting more controlled laboratory studies face the problem of deciding what exactly to measure. Without a scientific framework on which to base them, however, such decisions are often unsystematic and inconsistent. Providing a clear and defined starting point for any behavioural study, this is the first book to make available a set of principles for how to study the organisation of behaviour and, in turn, how to use those insights to select what to measure. The authors provide enough theory to allow readers to understand the derivation of the principles, and draw on numerous examples to demonstrate clearly how the principles can be applied. By providing a systematic framework for selecting what behaviour to measure, the book lays the foundations for a more scientific approach for the study of behaviour.

Sergio Pellis is a professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. He has been researching animal behaviour and neuroscience since 1976 and has maintained a research laboratory at the University of Lethbridge since 1990. For the past 13 years, he has been a Board of Governors Research Chair, and was awarded the Speaker Gold Medal for Research in 2014.

Vivien Pellis was an adjunct professor and is a research associate in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. She has been a university researcher in animal behaviour and neuroscience since 1981, investigating a diversity of behaviours and species.

Between them, the authors have published more than 250 scientific journal articles and chapters, along with a book titled The Playful Brain: Venturing to the Limits of Neuroscience (Oneworld Publications, 2009).

Understanding Animal Behaviour

What to Measure and Why

Sergio Pellis

University of Lethbridge

Vivien Pellis

University of Lethbridge

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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781108483452

DOI: 10.1017/9781108650151

Sergio Pellis and Vivien Pellis 2021

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2021

Printed in the United Kingdom by TJ Books Limited, Padstow Cornwall

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Pellis, Sergio, author. | Pellis, Vivien, author.

Title: Understanding animal behaviour : what to measure and why / Sergio Pellis, University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Vivien Pellis, University of Lethbridge, Alberta.

Description: Cambridge, UK ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021003174 (print) | LCCN 2021003175 (ebook) | ISBN 9781108483452 (hardback) | ISBN 9781108705103 (paperback) | ISBN 9781108650151 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Animal behavior Research.

Classification: LCC QL751 .P454 2021 (print) | LCC QL751 (ebook) | DDC 591.5 dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021003174

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021003175