Abstract
Rodger and Rosebrugh (1979) developed a method for identifying sets of rules by which discrete responses are combined to form functional sequences of behavior. In the present study, this so-called finite-state behavioral grammar method was used to analyze the food-hoarding behavior of Syrian golden hamsters ( Mesocricetus auratus). Specifically, it was used to analyze 127 videotaped food-hoarding sequences that were observed in 14 male, adult hamsters in an apparatus that comprised a home compartment, a foraging area, and a connecting tunnel. An integral part of grammar derivation is the development of hypotheses about the function of the observed response patterns to guide the grammar derivation. Two such hypotheses guided the present analysis: first, we hypothesized that behaviors observed in the foraging area after the hamsters' cheek pouches were filled served an exploratory function; second, we hypothesized that behaviors observed in the home compartment prior to the hamsters emptying their cheeck pouches served to assess potential food deposition sites. In addition to generating these two hypotheses and the grammars for the hoarding sequences, this study demonstrates how the finite-state grammar method can be used as a productive means of gaining insights into the organization of consummatory response sequences.
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