Scoring same behavior multiple times

[roosclaassen-hub]

Hello!

I am currently doing continuous focal observations in Agouti and stumbled upon the following problem: I can select multiple behaviors for the sequence of pictures, but I can not select how many times that behavior is shown (which is important for my research). It has been suggested to add behavior classes to the list of behaviors. For example for vigilance, Vig1x, Vig2x, Vig3x etc. However, this is not ideal. Then, I came up with an idea: Would it be possible to make the lay out of behaviors the same as the one for species? For species you can select a species, select how many individuals there are and you can add extra species. For behaviors you could then select the behavior, how many times it occurred and you can add more behaviors. I am not sure if that would be possible with all the R packages that are connected to Agouti, but if it is possible I think it would be of great value to Agouti users that also do behavioral observations.

I know more people have or had the same problem as me, so maybe this could be a solution for the future?

Best regards,
Roos

[peterdesmet]

Hi @roosclaassen-hub, you are right that the Agouti interface is somewhat tied to what can be expressed in Camtrap DP. Camtrap DP currently expects the following for behavior:

Dominant behavior of the observed individual(s), preferably expressed as controlled values (e.g. grazing, browsing, rooting, vigilance, running, walking). Formatted as a pipe (|) separated list for multiple values, with the dominant behavior listed first.

So:

• There is no controlled vocabulary.
• One can list multiple observations for a single observation, using | separation.
• The definition does not explicitly forbid listing counts: vigilance: 3 | grazing: 2. It is likely not what people expect in this field, but I also don't think it has many consequences.

I'll leave this issue open for feedback on how others would like to see behavior counts expressed in Camtrap DP. For one, it can definitely be expressed observationTags (e.g. as behavior_vigilance:3 | behavior:grazing_2).

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What you thus need is a workflow or change in Agouti. The options I can see are:

• In your project settings, define behaviors with counts (vigilance:1, vigilance:2). Advantage: you can use it right away + data are structured. Disadvantage: list might be very long.
• Record behavior counts in notes. Advantage: you can use it right away. Disadvantage: prone to errors.
• Record behavior counts as observationTags. Advantage: structured. Disadvantage: as opposed to deploymentTags, doesn't exist yet in Agouti, so requires a change.
• Record behavior in a dedicated count field next to behavior. Advantage: structured. Disadvantage: doesn't exist yet in Agouti, so requires a change + a decision needs to be made where to express that info in the Camtrap DP export.