ANALYSIS OF POSITIONAL BEHAVIOR IN THE RHESUS MONKEY (MACACA MULATTA).
Abstract
Systems and methodologies for the classification and description of motor behavior were evaluated in the light of the present needs of psychologists, primatologists, and investigators of electrically elicited movement in primates. The system developed in this study involved an angular-displacement kinematic analysis of the relations established between units of the body anatomy of monkeys during spontaneously occurring activity. Approximate angular displacements of body units were measured by means of a protractor from sketches of animals in profile traced from sequences of stills of movie film. Sitting, bipedal and quadrupedal standing postures were classified according to the most widely varying positional elements such as the amount and level of back curvature or leg flexion. The mode and the range of specific classes of the postures were specified and examples of the modal patterns were presented. Quadrupedal walking sequences which represented the most frequently observed sequence of foot contact with the substrate were analyzed, and the angular displacements of the body units and their temporal relations during successive phases of the locomotion were measured. Two extreme types of quadrupedal walking were differentiated in terms of positional elements, timing and patterning. The specific social and physical referents for the derived classes of postures and quadrupedal locomotion were specified. The possible applications of this system of analysis of positional behavior to special and general areas of neurophysiological and psychological investigation were discussed. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0645538
Entities
People
- Joan Deutsch
Organizations
- Tulane University of Louisiana