The female capuchin carefully removing small particles of dirt from the male (Congdon 2014).
Ethogram
Description: An ethogram is a specific list of behaviours that are seen in the species studied. This list is made of describing the behaviours in as much detail as possible for the species (Statford School of Medicine 2014).
Grooming – The capuchins using limbs to wash or smooth fur. Removing particles in each others coats.
Out of sight – The capuchins not visible to the observer.
Eating/foraging – The capuchins picks through bedding and leaves while staring at the ground locating the food and placing it in the mouth. Actively includes chewing, examining or holding.
Playing – The capuchins interacting with each other which involve locomotion, climbing and activities that show a positive relationship.
Following - Using all limbs to move around the enclosure in close proximity within a metre.
Sitting together – Sitting in a close proximity to each other within a metre.
Other – Other behaviour observed that is not listed.
Not together - Capuchins more than a metre from each other.
Other types of behaviours, could include breeding signs and vocals to each other.
Method
The method used to record the data is instantaneous sampling (Damerose, E & Hopkins, W 2002).
Equipment needed
Data recording sheet (see appendix one)
Pen
Stopwatch
How to carry out the observations.
· Observations made 3 metres from the outside enclosure and glass window.
· Recording any positive social interactions of the capuchins at the predetermined time interval of 30 seconds.
· Continuing for periods of 30 minutes.
Observations repeated in the morning at 10am, lunchtime at 1pm and afternoon at 3pm.
The appropriate statistical analysis for this behavioural study is a Kruskal-Wallis test. This is a non-parametric ANOVA test. This type of analysis compares the medians of the samples which help to see if the statistical analysis supports the hypothesis. Along with bar charts and pie charts to calculate the percentage of social behaviour within the observations.