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Classic behavioural studies flawed

Nature (2009)Cite this article

Nobel prizewinner took short cuts to show that the way gulls feed is instinctive.

One of the most famous experiments in biology isn't the solid piece of work it's usually portrayed as, say Dutch researchers who have replicated the study. Instead, it's more like an anecdote that became slightly more legendary each time its author retold the story.

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References

  1. ten Cate, C. Anim. Behav. 77, 785–794 (2009).

  2. ten Cate, C. et al. Anim. Behav. 77, 795–802 (2009).

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  3. Bolhuis, J. J. & Verhulst, S. (Eds) Tinbergen’s Legacy: Function and Mechanism in Behavioural Biology (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2009).

  4. Kruuk, H. Niko’s Nature: The Life of Niko Tinbergen and his Science of Animal Behaviour (Oxford Univ. Press, 2003).

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Authors
  1. John Whitfield
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Carel ten Kate

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Whitfield, J. Classic behavioural studies flawed. Nature (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2009.186

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2009.186

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