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Explanation of using observation to study behavior. Also refer to stimulus, responses, psychology, behaviorism, feeding frenzy, behavior rules, motivations, Ron Kurtus, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions

Studying Behavior with Observations

by Ron Kurtus (24 November 2000)

A common way to study behavior is to simply observe it happening. We subconsciously learn how others behave in different situations by observing what they do. You can also purposely observe and study the behavior of people, animals and plants. From this observed behavior, you can try to make some generalizations to find out the exactly what happens and why.

Questions you may have about this are:

• What are some examples of observations?
• What is the technique to determine a behavior from the observation?
• What is a specific application of this?

This lesson will answer those questions. There is a mini-quiz near the end of the lesson.

Examples of observations

Some common examples of making observations about behavior and then trying to establish rules of behavior for this individual and situation.

• You notice that some friends are always late, so you determine that this is a behavior trait that they have in some situations.
• You see how a flock of birds fly, so you try to explain their behavior.
• You see road rage situations, so you try to break down the scenario to explain what happens and why.
• You find a wallet and you turn it in to the lost and found. (You can also consider this behavior as if you observed someone else do it -- i.e. you see a person find a wallet and then turn it in.)
• You see your dog barking out the window at someone walking down the street.
• You notice how certain people always seem to interrupt others conversation.

Observation technique

Drawing conclusions from observations

1. Observe or recall the behavior or some organism.
2. Recall the circumstances leading up to the behavior. You could break down the situation into a scenario of events, if applicable.
3. Draw some conclusions.
   • Break down each situation into a cause and effect. That is, break it into a stimulus, resulting in a behavior--or behavior rule. For example: If a dog sees someone walking in front of the house, then he will bark at the person.
   • Try to define the reason, logic, or motivation behind the behavior.

Specific observation application 

One day you see birds peacefully searching for seeds around a bird feeder, but then another day where there is a whole pile of seeds, you see the birds fighting for the food.

You could make a behavioral rule that:

• If there are many seeds in the bird feeder, the birds will go into a feeding frenzy.

You could create a supposition on why the birds act this way:

• They do this because of greed.

(Note that this specific behavior has been seen with chimps, sharks, and even people.)

Summary

You can observe the behavior of yourself, other people, animals and plants and then determine rules and explanations for that behavior. By recalling the circumstances, you can establish a behavioral rule. Then you can guess at the reasons for the behavior.

Answers to Readers' Questions

You learn by paying attention, observing and being curious.

Resources

The following are resources on this subject.

Websites

Behavior Resources

Books

Top-rated books on Behavior

Miscellaneous

Mini-quiz to check your understanding

1. How do children learn how to behave?

2. Is it always possible to establish a rule of behavior rule for some action you observed?

3. Why is observation used so much in the study of behavior?

If you got all three correct, you are on your way to becoming a Champion in Understanding Behavior. If you had problems, you had better look over the material again.

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