Videotape as a replacement for the human observer in studies of nonhuman primate behavior

Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania 17837 For both field and laboratory studies of animal behavior, the availability of portable videotape recorders permits both improved techniques of observation and a means for permanent storage and rapid retrieval of observations. In some circumstances, videotape may be used to replace a human O. Evidence is presented that the behavior of at least one nonhuman primate commonly used in behavioral research, the squirrel monkey, differs when a human 0 is present from when behavior is recorded solely by videotape, even after 3 years of daily contact with human beings.