Vigilance Behaviors IN Meerkats

this is experimental psychlogy class.

Please read below and all the attached files. thank you

This is instruction for Lab that we did in the class .

Watched the Meerkat practice clip, and practice deciding when the meerkats are vigilant (V), not vigilant (NV), and out of sight (OS). You can pause, rewind, and rewatch the video and you are free to talk during the video. You can practice doing scans (choose an interval, eg., 5-sec) and then compare your results. Continue until you feel comfortable that all lab members are recording data in the same way.

Next you will practice taking data independently. Each person will record their data and after all the data is collected you will calculate your % agreement.

Video: Meerkat 10-sec scan sample practice

During playback, one person will pause the video every 10 seconds and every person will record the data for that scan. It doesn’t matter when you do the scans, as long as they are 10 seconds apart (10-second scan interval).

 Do not communicate with your partners about the data you are recording. It is ok to ask to rewind the video a bit and rewatch a portion but do not discuss which meerkats are V, NV, or OS.

After you have collected all of your scans, combine your data into one Table and calculate your % agreement.

Then. We scanned Sampling of Vigilance Behaviors in 3 Conditions

Recorded the number of V, NV, and OS meerkats every 10 seconds in the three videos (conditions).

There are 8 meerkats in the exhibit so each scan should account for all 8 meerkats. Each of the three videos should have the same number of scans.

Operational definitions

Vigilant (V): Head raised at or above horizontal plane and eyes open (to include scanning / guarding / raised guarding). If a meerkat has an elevated position it is ok for the head to be below the horizontal plane of the body.

Non-Vigilant (NV): Eyes closed or head lower than horizontal plane of body (to include foraging, moving, sleeping, resting).

Out of sight (OS): Not visible to the observer.

Recorded our data in an excel document set up like the example below. The numbers in the no-predator condition are just a sample of what your data should look like.

Here is the videos for you to have an idea what we did.

Meerkat Control – No predator

https://youtu.be/O-OQ3KlGu_s

Meerkat Experimental – Terrestrial predator

https://youtu.be/OK_hnRo-m2E

Meerkat Experimental – Aerial predator

https://youtu.be/HJmAlxdj8fQ

basically on paper we discuss about our findings when it comes to graphs( attached) aand in general what we found through observation ow merkats behaving when predators are close and when they are not.

what is hypothesis for this paper. follow and read attached files please.

In the video There was eight meerkats.

When they would feel threat from predators they would start behaving differently.

Then we were counting their movement and how often they would disappear/hide from scene.

You can see graphs that we created and numbers in the graphs that describes they vigilance behavior etc.

We were three participants observing meerkats movements,

and individually, each student, we counted how many meerkats we would see every ten seconds.

We observed these videos and wrote numbers how many would stay when predators would come close, or where there was no predators.

based on observation of these videos we created graphs. all graphs tests are already done.

one of the attached file will have graphs that needs to be exactly same way copied and past on paper.

under RESULTS category on paper you will dissucss about results which is our graphs. (please dont change numbers)

please open each attached file and u will know which graphs should be included on paper.  on file I put name ”ONLY GRAPHS TO USE ON PAPER”

I will attach file also where will be  general instructions to get an idea and hints what to write on paper and what

questions  needs to  be answered on paper.

also another one of the file will have just strict guideline about structure of paper as well.

in terms of REFERENCES , one of the attached  file has three sources that  I provided.

Please reade those sources and use them  as paper  references,

and u can relate those studies  with your results.

other than that find two other source. in TOTAL 5 reference

i will attach files.

in one file is just hints of paper.

on another file is stricts guidleine about structure of paper.

on another file will be Pre paper preparation there is graphs you need..

there will be couple of graphs. those are the graphs that needs to be included on paper only.

 and need to discuss, undeer results category. what is our findings.

basicallt we observe vilgilance behavior in meerkats. graphs are already done. you just need to copy and paste andread numbers.

please watch videos to have an idea