The Science of Animal Behavior: Methods of Ethology

Ethology studies animal behavior and investigates how it relates to environmental conditions, the characteristics of the organism, and experience. Researchers observe animals, describe their actions, and compare behavior in different circumstances.

Ethological methods help reveal not only what an animal does, but also the patterns behind individual actions: how behavior changes, what signals trigger it, and how animals interact with one another. This article explores the main ways of studying animal behavior and the questions they can help investigate. For a broader look at how scientific inquiry works, see our article, “Science and Education: How Knowledge Works and What the Scientific Method Teaches.”

• 2 methods Observation and experimentation are the methods of ethology named in the materials.
• 2 approaches Psychological and physiological approaches emerged in the study of individual behavior and its development.
• 1 discipline Ethology is defined as the biological science of animal behavior.
• 1 field of zoology Ethology is considered a field-based branch of zoology.

What does ethology study, and why is the natural environment important?

Ethology is a biological science that studies animal behavior, with particular attention to how animals act in their natural environment. Observing animals in the wild makes it possible to consider their actions in a context that may be absent in a laboratory: the behavior of other members of their species and the conditions in which they live. Ethology is therefore not simply the study of an animal’s responses in an experiment; above all, it is a field-based branch of zoology.

Innate behavior and its development

One of ethology’s central aims is to investigate innate forms of behavior associated with genetic predispositions. However, the presence of such predispositions does not mean behavior is entirely determined at birth: ethology also examines how behavior takes shape over the course of individual development. To do this, it is important to distinguish what an animal inherits as a foundation from how that foundation is expressed throughout its life.

Ethology developed as a field-based branch of zoology, drawing on evolutionary theory and the ideas of Charles Darwin. An evolutionary perspective helps researchers study behavior not in isolation, but as part of an animal’s life in its environment. Natural conditions matter because they make it possible to observe behavior where it takes shape and is expressed, rather than only in a laboratory setting.

How does observation help us study animals in the wild?

Field observation helps ethologists study how an animal behaves in its natural environment and distinguish actions typical of that setting from responses to laboratory conditions. The method is suited to investigating innate forms of behavior: the ethologist records what the animal does and under what circumstances, without moving the study from the field to a laboratory.

The context of behavior

For an ethologist, the setting in which an action occurs matters as much as the action itself. For example, a record of an animal’s movement does not, by itself, explain its function: the observer must consider what else was happening around it and what actions came before it.

Field observation is a way to gather information, not a ready-made explanation of the causes of behavior. Even when an action is observed in natural conditions, that record alone does not prove it is genetically determined: observation reveals behavior and its context, but does not establish the mechanism behind it.

Why do ethologists conduct controlled experiments?

Ethologists conduct controlled experiments to test whether an animal’s behavior changes when conditions change, and to distinguish a stable behavioral pattern from a response to a particular situation. Observation in the wild shows an action in its usual environment, while an experiment allows researchers to vary conditions deliberately and compare the results. The methods complement each other: one preserves context, while the other helps test a possible link between a condition and behavior.

How researchers study behavioral development

To understand how behavior develops, ethologists need to consider an animal’s individual development, rather than simply describe the actions of an adult. An action may appear stable in an adult animal, but how it emerges and changes over time requires separate study. Observation in the natural environment and controlled experiments therefore address different questions: what the animal does, and under what conditions that action arises or changes.

The study of behavioral development is not limited to ethology: psychological and physiological approaches have also emerged in this field. Ethology examines animal behavior, including innate, genetically determined forms; psychological and physiological approaches help investigate individual behavior and its development from different perspectives. This distinction matters so that an observed action is not reduced either to heredity alone or to a single particular situation.

How can we distinguish innate behavior from acquired behavior?

Innate and developed behavior

In ethology, innate behavior is distinguished from acquired behavior according to how strongly it is genetically determined or shaped through individual experience. Repetition alone is not enough to classify an action as innate: the conditions under which it appears and how it develops in the animal also matter.

Innate forms of behavior are a central subject of ethology, which studies animal behavior in natural settings. Acquired actions are linked to experience, so researchers need to consider an animal’s development rather than observe its behavior at just one moment. These categories should not be confused with a simple distinction between what is constant and what changes: a stable action may also result from an individual’s experience.

• Innate: assess how strongly behavior is linked to a genetically determined form; repetition alone does not prove this.
• Acquired: determine the role of individual experience and how the action took shape during the animal’s development.
• Observation: in a natural environment, shows the circumstances and context in which an action occurs.
• Experiment: makes it possible to test whether behavior changes when conditions change.

Combining observation and experimentation helps researchers avoid conclusions about the origins of behavior based on a single characteristic. For example, if an action is repeated regularly, it is still necessary to determine separately whether its consistency is due to an innate pattern or to the experience of a particular animal.

Where do the limits of ethological conclusions lie?

What cannot be concluded from a single observation

A single observation cannot reliably establish why an animal behaves as it does: field ethology shows behavior in a natural environment, but on its own cannot distinguish a possible cause from circumstances that merely coincided with it. For example, if an animal repeats an action in a particular situation, observation records this association but does not yet prove that the situation caused the action.

An experiment helps test a hypothesis by changing conditions and tracking whether behavior changes. However, results from a controlled setting cannot automatically be applied to the wild: an animal there may be affected by environmental factors and its individual history at the same time. That is why findings from laboratory tests should be compared with field observations, rather than treated as interchangeable with them.

• Field observation: shows how behavior is expressed in a natural environment, but does not establish its cause without further testing.
• Experiment: makes it possible to test a response under controlled conditions, but does not guarantee that it will be the same in a natural setting.
• Comparing methods: helps consider genetically determined elements of behavior alongside individual development, without reducing them to a simple choice between “innate” and “acquired.”

In ethology, conclusions about the origins of behavior are more convincing when field observations and experiments complement each other. Neither method alone provides grounds for considering complex behavior exclusively innate or exclusively acquired.

How does ethology fit into the broader scientific picture?

Ethology links the study of animal behavior with evolutionary biology: it developed as a field-based branch of zoology under the influence of evolutionary theory and the ideas of Charles Darwin. Its subject is not a general description of an organism’s structure, but how animals behave, particularly in their natural environment. Observing behavior therefore complements information about anatomy and helps us understand an animal as an organism acting in specific conditions.

Behavior: heredity and development

Ethologists study not only what an animal does, but also how behavior relates to heredity and individual development. Innate, genetically determined forms of behavior are among ethology’s key subjects, but an individual animal’s behavior is also considered as it takes shape. Observation in the wild and experimentation turn such questions into scientific investigations. For more on how they work in the pursuit of knowledge, read our article, “Science and Education: How Knowledge Works and What the Scientific Method Teaches.”

Frequently asked questions

Key takeaways

• Ethology studies animal behavior in natural conditions.
• Innate, genetically determined forms of behavior are a key subject of ethology.
• Observation and controlled experimentation address different questions and complement each other.
• Individual development matters for understanding how behavior takes shape.

Written byAleksandra Vorobeva

Александра Воробьёва фокусируется на актуальных вопросах экономики и культуры, исследуя их взаимосвязь и влияние на общественные процессы. Она стремится предложить читателям глубинный анализ и новые перспективы в понимании культурных явлений.