Time For Other Activities Research Articles

Time allocations of various activities under multiple schedules in pigeons

Time allocations of three pigeons' various activities (pecking, turning, preening, wing flapping, etc.) were measured under usual multiple schedules in which only key-peck response was reinforced. Positive behavioral contrast was found for both the number and the time allocation of key-peck response. Some time allocations of the other activities were inversely varied to that of key-pecks, as stated in the competition theory of behavioral contrast. However, the amount of reallocation of interim activities was not enough to complement the amount of increases or decreases of key-pecks in the unchanged component. Most of the amount of increases or decreases of key-pecks in the unchanged component was complemented with the inactive time. This result suggests that behavioral competition is not the primary mechanism for key-peck behavioral contrast in multiple schedules in pigeons. It is important to consider inactive time, which is emerged in the usual experimental setting, to clearly attribute the behavioral contrast to reallocation of time for other activities.

Sex differences in the foraging behavior of squirrel monkeys in a seasonal habitat

The effects of sex and seasonal changes in food abundance on foraging behavior was studied in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri oerstedi) in Costa Rica over an eleven-month period. Females searched for and ate food at significantly greater frequencies than did males throughout the study. The frequency of the specific foraging techniques used occasionally differed significantly within seasons, but not across the study period. Few differences were found in the foraging behaviors of nonreproductive sexually mature females compared to females that were pregnant or lactating. The major exception was that during the month following parturition reproductive females foraged for flowers and fruits more frequently than did non-reproductive females. The reduction of time spent by males in foraging activities gives them more time for other activities, especially anti-predator vigilance. Foraging techniques and the proportions of different food types in the diet changed seasonally. Foraging for arthropods was most frequent in the season when arthropod abundance was lowest, resulting in the amount of time spent eating arthropods to vary less across the seasons. Fruits and flowers were not eaten in a direct relationship to availability, but were used more than expected relative to availability when arthropod abundance was reduced. Individuals were more dispersed when foraging compared to other activities. Overall, there was little evidence of any direct foraging benefits for a squirrel monkey from being social.

Providing Primary General Medical Care in University Hospitals: Efficiency and Cost

Data on efficiency, costs, and profits of 15 internal medicine outpatient group practices in university hospitals were collected for 9 months from interviews, a time-motion study, observations, and reviews of bills. Charges for a follow-up visit were about 25% higher than Medicare's allowable charges, but differed threefold across practices. Physicians spent more than half their allocated patient care or supervision time in other activities and 14% of nursing time was used for direct patient care. Visits to second- and third-year residents cost one half of those to faculty. Faculty supervision of second- and third-year residents was limited; it was, on average, 2 minutes per follow-up visit. Despite these inefficiencies, bad debts, and educational costs, practices appeared to break even financially. We conclude it is financially feasible for university hospitals to provide primary care to disadvantaged populations.

Food Caching in the Screech Owl

Instances of food storing or caching in raptors have been reported (Pierce, Condor 39:140, 1937; Tordoff, Wilson Bull. 67:138, 1955; Stendell and Waian, Condor 70:187, 1968). Food storage may be appropriate when a food resource is periodic and/or unpredictable. It has been proposed that this behavior is adaptive for avian predators such as shrikes (Lanius) (Cade, Living Bird 6:43-86, 1967) and Snowy Owls (Nyctea scandiaca) (Pitelka et al., Ecol. Monogr. 25:85, 1955). In April 1974, on Amherst Island, near Kingston, Ontario, Canada, I found a Screech Owl (Otus asio) storing meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) on a rafter inside an old shack. Three visits were made to the site. At each visit, a Screech Owl was flushed from the shack. Numerous regurgitated pellets were found in the shack, indicating that the owl had been using it for a long period. On April 12, seven voles were found on the rafters. Each vole was weighed and eartagged for subsequent identification. Two days later, there were only five voles, all with eartags. A week later, I found six voles, four of them eartagged. The size of the voles in the cache was between 13 and 26 g (mean 20.1 g; N = 9). I could find no apparent signs of external injury on the voles in the cache. The owl appeared to be storing vole carcasses it had picked up nearby. At the time of my observations, the vole population on the island was declining in density, from approximately 165 voles/ha to about 33/ha. Vole carcasses were abundant in the vicinity of the shack. My findings show turnover in the cache. However, some stored items remained longer than those observed by Stendell and Waian (1968). During forty days of observation of a kestrel (Falco sparverius) cache, prey items were stored for seven days at most. The storage of prey by raptors must be brief because decay may often be rapid. Decay is probably the chief factor limiting the usefulness of a cache. When decay is slow, as in winter, or the turnover rate of the cache is high, as while feeding young, decay is less limiting. Food caching is probably adaptive in many situations, providing a readily accessible food supply. In shrikes, this behavior is necessitated by the similarity in size of the predator and the prey. In the Snowy Owl, the accumulation of prey items is probably in response to the great demand for prey by the female and young during the nesting period. It is possible that the caching behavior in this instance was also related to breeding as Screech Owls in this locality begin nesting in mid-April. However, there was no evidence that the owl in question was nesting. As a result of caching behavior, foraging time may be reduced, permitting more time for other activities (e.g. breeding). It seems possible that caching could occur before actual breeding activity commences if physiological changes themselves are adequate to .elicit this behavior at the onset of the breeding season. Thus, caching could provide a margin of safety in the provision of food, while substantially reducing the time and energy costs normally associated with foraging. These observations were made while conducting field work supported by Canadian Wildlife Service grant CWS 7475/043.

Chronopolitics: What Time Do People Vote?

Insights from time-budget studies are applied to reassess previous work on factors conditioning the time of day when people vote. In sharp contrast to expectations raised by the literature, the findings reveal weak multivariate effects of attitudinal, behavioral, and situational conditioning factors. Ricardo Klorman is Visiting Associate Professor of Sociology, State UJniversity of New York at Stony Brook. The author is grateful to Robert Hodge for his comments on an earlier draft of this article. POQ 40 (1976) 182-193 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.209 on Sun, 11 Jun 2017 18:33:46 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms WHAT TIME DO PEOPLE VOTE? 183 This study is concerned with the time of day when people cast their votes, a subject which has received secondary attention in research dealing with the effects of computerized election forecasts by television networks upon turnout and the vote.4 The selection of time of voting as a research topic is far from frivolous. Students of time-budgets have often remarked that most of the average day is invested in relatively mandatory routines which structure the timing of other activities,5 and that we seem to take for granted such factors as work status, stage in the life cycle, and sex roles in shaping the allocation of time.6 This study estimates the magnitude of the bivariate and multivariate effects of some of the systematic conditions which have been advanced in the literature as influencing the time of day when votes are cast. Since previous studies have not reported the strength of the observed associations, their data are re-analyzed. In addition, use is made of census tabulations dealing with estimates of the time of voting for the civilian noninstitutional population during the 1972 presidential election.7 Finally, we utilize a national survey of households conducted by the Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan during the 1964 presidential election.8 The main factor affecting the time when votes are cast is the state law that sets polling hours for general elections. According to the most recent compilation, opening hours range from 5:45 A.M. to 1 P.M., while closing hours extend from 6 to 9 P.M.9 It is difficult to consolidate descriptive statistics on polling hours since a good number of states have wide-ranging hours contingent upon size of locality, use of voting machines, etc. Furthermore, members of the judiciary have been known to alter these hours to facilitate voting.10 However, within these broad limits, wide individual variation in the time of voting may be discerned. During the 1972 presidential election, relatively few individuals voted prior to 8 A.M. (1 1.4 perI The bulk of this research is conveniently summarized in U.S. Senate, Hearings of the Subcommittee on Communications of the Committee on Commerce, Projections-Predictions of Election Results and Political Broadcasting, 90th Congress, 1st session, Washington D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, July 18-20, 1967, pp. 161-172, 211-219, 238-266, 319-329. 5 See Stuart Chapin, Activity Patterns in the City, New York, Wiley, 1974, p. 9; Stuart Chapin and Richard Brail, Human Activity Systems in the Metropolitan United Environment and Behavior, Vol. 1, 1969, pp. 107-130. 6Chapin, op. cit., p. 112. Further details about this survey appear in U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-20, No. 253, Washington, D.C., U.S. Government Printing Office, 1973, pp. 13-14. This is the first time that the November sample was asked about the time of day when votes were cast. 8 For further details see Inter-university Consortium for Political Research, The 1964 Election Study, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, 1971. This survey was made available through the Inter-university Consortium for Political Research. Neither the SRC nor the ICPR are responsible for the analysis and interpretations presented in this article. I Council of State Governments, The Book of the States, 1974-75, Lexington, Ky., 1974 pp. 36-37. 10 See for instance the New York Times, November 8, 1972, p. 36. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.209 on Sun, 11 Jun 2017 18:33:46 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

On the division of labour in the primitive termiteZootermopsis nevadensis (Hagen)

It has been found that inZootermopsis nevadensis, a relatively primitive termite, the nymphs and older larvae carry out most nest-building behaviour, digging, and oscillatory movements. As they progress from young larvae to nymphs the termites tend to spend less time in trophallaxis and more time in other activities. The first instar nymphs and the sixth instar larvae are the most active in all respects. In terms of behaviour the sixth instar larvae are the nearest equivalent to a worker caste. Insects of the first nymphal instar can be roughly divided into those that spend much time in trophallaxis and relatively little in other activities andvice versa. This polarity was not evident in the younger insects. The replacement reproductives spend most of their time in trophallaxis and very little in other activities. Most of this trophallaxis is with the younger larvae, while most of the trophallaxis of the other instars is with the replacement reproductives. It is suggested that behavioural differences such as those found here may be important in caste determination and regulation.

Management and behaviour of breeding groups of the marsupial Perameles nasuta Geoffroy in captivity

The marsupial Perameles nasuta Geoffroy was repeatedly bred in captivity, in large enclosures, for the first time. Methods of management are described. The bandicoot's behaviour was observed on 104 nights with spotlight and binoculars. All the bandicoots used the whole enclosure, were solitary in habit, and were very busy feeders, spending little time in other activities. Sexual activity was restricted to a few nights close to oestrus. Close following of the female by the male led to several matings which occurred in quick succession, with intromission lasting a few seconds. Gestation lasted 12.5 days. The interval between successive periods of oestrus, when young conceived at the first oestrus were successfully reared to weaning, was 62-63 days. Young were carried in the pouch at night for 50-54 days and appeared to be weaned when the next litter was due.