Defining bouts of behaviour: a three-process model

A bout criterion helps in knowing when a behavior pattern starts and terminates and in observing the behavioral statistics. Researchers must have a knowledge of the elucidatory capacities of additional processes while arriving at a bout criterion. The log frequency technique is used to assess the explanatory capacity of two-process and three-process models for observing the feeding pattern of 13 wild rats, Rattus norvegicus, in semi-natural conditions. Feeding events are well distributed into bouts in the two-process method, while the three-process technique signify a good understanding of the information in 89% of the cases.