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Repeatability in the behavioural analyses
Vobrubová, Barbora ; Frynta, Daniel (advisor) ; Sedláček, František (referee) ; Špinka, Marek (referee)
This thesis is focused on the repeatability of behaviour, a suitable tool for quantification of personality, which is defined as consistent inter-individual differences. It contains five studies, which view repeatability and personality from different angles. In the first study, I focus on the description of the history of personality studies, the most often mammalian species used in these studies, and I present a metaanalysis of the published works. The highest repeatability was found in activity, the lowest in aggressivity and exploratory behaviour. The following two studies concern the expressions of personality in exploratory behaviour of the black rat (Rattus rattus). The first one analyses habituation in the course of repeated testing, and found the most prominent habituation in head-dipping (looking in the holes) in the hole board test. This study also demonstrates the differences between different approaches to estimating repeatability, when the inclusion of systematic effect of habituation increased the repeatability estimates. The subsequent study measured the levels of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCM), their diurnal cycle and the association with exploratory behaviour. fGCM showed themselves to be an interindividually variable characteristic, which is well repeatable, despite the...
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