Application of piecewise hierarchical linear growth modeling to the study of continuity in behavioral development of baboons (Papio hamadryas).
In behavioral science, developmental discontinuities are thought to arise when the association between an outcome measure and the underlying process changes over time. Sudden changes in behavior across time are often taken to indicate that a reorganization in the outcome-process relationship may have occurred. The authors proposed in this article the use of piecewise hierarchical linear growth modeling as a statistical methodology to search for discontinuities in behavioral development and illustrated its possibilities by applying 2-piece hierarchical linear models to the study of developmental trajectories of baboon (Papio hamadryas) mothers' behavior during their infants' 1st year of life. The authors provided empirical evidence that piecewise growth modeling can be used to determine whether abrupt changes in development trajectories are tied to changes in the underlying process.
Departamento de Metodología de las Ciencias del Comportamiento, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. vhlloreda@psi.ucm.es
María Victoria
MV
Hernández-Lloreda
Fernando
F
Colmenares
Rosario
R
Martínez-Arias
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010215:Papio / Q000254:growth & development*