Repeatability analysis improves the reliability of behavioral data

Reliability of data has become a major concern in the course of the reproducibility crisis. Especially when studying animal behavior, confounding factors such as novel test apparatus can lead to a wide variability of data. At worst, effects of novelty or stress related behavior can mask treatment effects and the behavioral data may be misinterpreted. Habituation to the test situation is a common practice to circumvent novelty induced increases in variance and to improve the reliability of the respective measurements. However, there is a lack of published empirical knowledge regarding reasonable habituation procedures and a method validation seems to be overdue.This study aimed at setting up a simple strategy to increase reliability of behavioral data. Therefore, exemplary data from mice tested in an Open Field (OF) arena were used to elucidate the potential of habituation and how reliability of measures can be confirmed by means of a repeatability analysis using the software R. On seven consecutive days, male C57BL/6J, BALB/cJ and 129S1/SvImJ mice were tested in an OF arena once daily and individual mouse behavior (distance travelled, average activity) was recorded. A repeatability analysis was conducted in order to estimate the reliability of measured animal behavior with regard to repeated trials of habituation.Our data analysis revealed that monitoring animal behavior during habituation is important to determine when individual differences of the measurements are stable. Here, the mixed effect model framework proved to be a powerful tool for estimating repeatability values. Repeatability values from distance travelled and average activity increased over the habituation period, revealing that around 60 % of the variance of the data can be explained by individual differences between mice. The first day of habituation was statistically significantly different from the following 6 days in terms of distance travelled and average activity. A habituation period of three days appeared to be sufficient in this study. Overall these results emphasize the importance of habituation and in depth analysis of habituation data to define the correct starting point of the experiment for improving the reliability and reproducibility of experimental data.

Infant perception of object unity in static displays

The present study examined infants’ capability of extracting object unity in a stationary twodimensional rod-and-box display. The infants were habituated to a centre-occluded rod and were afterwards tested with both a broken rod and a complete rod. The looking pattern of both female and male participants aged 8 months did not reveal the ability to amodally complete the partly hidden rod. Nine-month-old females, however, looked reliably longer at the broken test stimulus than at the solid test display, implying that they had perceived the partially occluded rod presented in the habituation period as a connected whole. Their male counterparts, on the other hand, did not differentiate between the test patterns. These findings suggest that the capability of perceiving object unity in displays in which the relative depth ordering of surfaces is specified solely by the pictorial depth cue of interposition emerges after about 8 months of age. Furthermore, the results argue for a differential perspective including sex as a moderator variable.

Preliminary observation of rest posture habituation time

Introduction [excerpt]. Data on the habituation period needed for developing an optimal oral rest posture in individuals presenting with non-tongue thrust orofacial/speech/voice disorders is lacking. Jt was hypothesized that a target desirable oral rest posture could be established in adults within approximately three weeks, but that this would take children a lengthier period of time. The following is a summary of preliminary obseNations obtained from 1 O adult clients and 1 O pediatric clients on a hospital speech pathologist's outpatient caseload.

Put-Up Or Shut-Up? Habituation to Speech and Office Noise

This paper examines one of the most bothersome aspects of open-plan offices—the effect of background noise. Since office workers spend a considerable amount of time in these environments, the paper examines whether background noise can be habituated to in the laboratory using memory for prose tasks, presented before and after a habituation period. This paper reports two experiments that examined whether speech and office noise can be habituated to after prolonged exposure. Experiment 1 showed that meaning and repetition had no effect on the significant habituation effects seen after 20 minutes exposure to the noise. Experiment 2 found that office noise without speech can also be habituated to after prolonged exposure. These results are interpreted in the light of current research on the effects of background noise and habituation, and practical implications for office planning are discussed.