THE EVOLUTION OF THE BUGSYSTEM: 



RECENT PROGRESS IN THE ANALYSIS OF 



BIO-BEHAVIORAL DATA 



Robert S. Wilson 



Department of Biology 



Yale University 



New Haven, Conn. 06520 



John O. B. Greaves 



Electrical Engineering Department 



Southeastern Massachusetts University 



North Dartmouth, Mass. 02747 



ABSTRACT 



Experimental investigation of the movements of organisms often entails the 

 acquisition and processing of large samples of spatio-temporal data. An 

 interactive, interpretive, on-line computer-television system (viz., the 

 Bugsystem) was developed in order to expedite such analyses. Aspects of the 

 structure of this prototype system are outlined. Its effectiveness is evaluated 

 with regard to the problems confronting the bio-behavioral researcher. 



A second generation system has been developed under a research grant from 

 the Environmental Protection Agency. Utilizing new hardware and software, it 

 in many ways constitutes a generalization of its prototype. We describe 

 features of the refined system which provide for the following: a large degree 

 of machine-independence, significant expansion of the size of data records, 

 inclusion of experimental parameters and variables witliin the data structure, 

 investigation of rotational and flectional movement, statistical analysis, and 

 tracking of organisms in three dimensional space. Current utiHzation of the 

 Bugsystem for research in behavioral physiology and the potential for future 

 development are discussed. 



INTRODUCTION 



The fundamental focus of behavioral research is the description and 

 expHcation of what individual organisms do. Because those biological activities 

 most often classified as "behavior" consist largely (although not exclusively) of 

 the movements of organisms, quantitative investigation of behavior is often 



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