100 • Alternatives to Animal Use in Research, Testing, and Education 
or more organisms that results in a change 
in behavior. Instances of this range from 
those that are stereotyped and instinctive, 
such as the dance "language” of honey bees, 
to those that might appear to have a symbolic 
basis, as in the case of the recent attempts 
to teach chimpanzees various forms of sign 
language. Depending on species, communi- 
cation can involve visual, auditory, olfactory, 
or tactile cues. 
• Exploration and Activity. In addition to in- 
stances of curiosity and exploratory behavior, 
patterns of activity included in this discipline 
are circadian rhythms, sleep, hibernation, 
roost -time restlessness, and different patterns 
of locomotion (e.g., swimming, swinging, or 
flying). 
• Habitat and Food Selection. Habitat and 
food selection refer to the areas where ani- 
mals live under natural conditions (e.g., fresh- 
water streams, forests, or deserts) and the 
ways they exploit resources. Areas of inquiry 
by behavioral researchers include competi- 
tion between species and optimal foraging 
strategies. 
• Learning, Memory, and Problem Solving. 
These behaviors are represented by the ac- 
quisition and retention of new information 
that allows organisms to anticipate recurring 
environmental events, as well as changes in 
behavior that maximize or minimize certain 
outcomes. Included in this discipline is the 
cultural transmission of information from 
one generation to the next and imitation. 
• Motivation and Emotion. The study of moti- 
vation looks at mechanisms and manipulations 
that activate and sustain behavior. Emotion 
typically includes reactions that accompany 
different motivational states and is often asso- 
ciated, for example, with fear, anxiety, appre- 
hension, pleasure, and rage. 
• Predator^Prey Relations. As a consequence 
of selective pressure associated with preda- 
tion, many prey species have developed an 
extensive and elaborate array of predator 
defenses couched in terms of sensory and/or 
behavioral adaptations, such as burrowing or 
voluntary immobility. Likewise, predators 
use a variety of behavioral strategies in prey 
identification and capture. 
• Reproduction and Parental Care. Patterns 
of courtship, mate selection, copulatory be- 
havior, nest building, nurturing, and care of 
offspring all fall within this discipline. 
• Sensation and Perception. Sensation and 
perception refers to the ways in which orga- 
nisms detect and interpret their environ- 
ment. Topics included in this discipline in- 
clude studies of sensory mechanisms, the 
development of search images, and highly 
specialized sensory mechanisms, such as 
echolocation. 
• Social Behavior. Social behavior is defined 
by a situation in which the behavior of one 
organism serves as a stimulus for the be- 
havior of another, and vice versa. Instances 
of social behavior range from simple forms 
of aggregation to complex exchanges among 
individuals (e.g., dominance, cooperation, and 
reciprocal altruism). 
• Spacing Mechanisms. Spacing mechanisms 
are intimately tied to social behavior, and 
range from such topics as individual distance 
to the maintenance of territories. 
Behavioral v. Biomedical Research 
Distinctions between behavioral and biomedi- 
cal research, although they are commonly made 
(and are followed in this assessment), frequently 
break down. Behavior, in the final analysis, is a 
biological phenomenon. Behavior presupposes a 
living organism, and the way that organism be- 
haves is influenced in complex ways by its genetic 
makeup, hormonal status, physiology, and neuro- 
chemistry. Intervening between the input of envi- 
ronmental events and the output of behavioral 
events are complex neuroanatomical networks in- 
volving receptors, electrochemical reactions, 
nerve impulses, and effector organs. Behavior 
does not occur in a vacuum. The biology of the 
organism provides the foundation that makes be- 
havioral events possible. 
It is increasingly apparent that many aspects 
of behavioral research must be viewed in conjunc- 
tion with biomedical research. Strong compo- 
nents of both behavioral and biomedical research 
are evident, for example, in the study of obesity, 
hypertension, drug addiction, headaches, aggres- 
sion, alcoholism, sexual dysfunction, brain dam- 
