The study of the behavior of animals is very fortunate that students, who enter this field with a wish to learn more about its scientific approaches, are already intrigued by their own observations. Invariably, beginning students come in equipped with detailed descriptions of behavioral eccentricities of pets, wildlife, or smaller siblings.
- The main challenge is for students to understand the fundamental nature of the scientific approach that must be used to study behavior more formally.
-Only a rigorous experimental characterization of behavioral phenomena will yield common generalities on how and why animals do what they do - rather than providing a simple catalog of anecdotes.
-The study of behavior thus critically depends on the ability of students to phrase their general inquiry as a series of questions that can be answered with standard scientific approaches, that are amenable to experimental probes, and which lead to an explicit and unambiguous interpretation of its results.