Everyone knows what behavior is but they just don’t agree on it

• Published in: iScience 2023-11, Vol.26 (11), p.108210-108210, Article 108210
• Main Authors: Calhoun, Adam J., El Hady, Ahmed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological sciences; Ecology; Neuroscience; Zoology
• ISSN: 2589-0042; 2589-0042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108210

Studying “behavior” lies at the heart of many disciplines. Nevertheless, academics rarely provide an explicit definition of what “behavior” actually is. What range of definitions do people use, and how does that vary across disciplines? To answer these questions, we have developed a survey to probe what constitutes “behavior.” We find that academics adopt different definitions of behavior according to their academic discipline, animal model that they work with, and level of academic seniority. Using hierarchical clustering, we identify at least six distinct types of “behavior” which are used in seven distinct operational archetypes of “behavior.” Individual respondents have clear consistent definitions of behavior, but these definitions are not consistent across the population. Our study is a call for academics to clarify what they mean by “behavior” wherever they study it, with the hope that this will foster interdisciplinary studies that will improve our understanding of behavioral phenomena. [Display omitted] •Large-scale quantitative survey about the meaning of behavior across academic disciplines•Identified discrete definitions of behavior•Individuals have consistent definitions•Different disciplines use different definitions for the word “behavior” Ecology; Biological sciences; Zoology; Neuroscience