Knowledge Base

Nesting Over Side by Side

Aim

To pick out data occurring when two subjects were side by side within a proximity threshold distance.

Example: Calculate the average velocity of the subject when it was side-by-side with another subject, pointing to the same direction.

Nesting vs. Nesting Over Subjects

Notice the difference when there are multiple subjects in the same arena:

• To select data of a subject based on the Side-by-side behavior of that subject, choose Side by side under Nesting. In the Receivers tab you specify which subject was side-by-side with the focal subject. See the procedure below.
• To select data of a subject based on the Side-by-side behavior of other subjects, choose Side by side under Nesting over Subjects. There you find the Actors tab and the Receivers tab where you can specify which subject (Actor) was side by side with which other subjects (Receivers). See Nesting over subjects.

Procedure

1. In the Data Profile, under Nesting click the button next to Side by side.
2. In the Side by side window, either enter the proximity threshold distance or accept the default value (see notes below for details).
3. Under Calculate nesting for, choose which state of the Side by side variable defines your selection: either Side by side, same direction or Side by side, opposite direction. For details about the Side by side variable, see Dependent Variables in Detail > Social > Side by side.
4. Click the Receivers tab and select which subjects should be in proximity with the focal subject.
5. Click OK. Proceed with step 4 in How to select track segments.

Notes

• The default proximity threshold distance is 5.26 cm. This corresponds to the threshold used in Live Mouse Tracker, that is, 2 x 15 = 30 pixels, where 15 is the original value of MAX_DISTANCE_HEAD_HEAD_GENITAL_THRESHOLD in Live Mouse Tracker, and the scale factor for converting pixels to cm is 10/57.
• If you select multiple subjects A, B, etc. in the Receivers tab, and select the option All selected subjects, then the track segments are selected when the focal subject was side by side with A, B, etc. simultaneously. That may not occur often. Instead, select Any selected subject if you want to analyze the track segments when the focal subject was side by side either with A, or B, etc.

See Also

• Nesting over Proximity
• Nesting over Subjects

Nesting over Body Contact

Aim

To pick out the track segments corresponding to when one subject was in contact or not in contact with another subject.

Nesting vs. Nesting over Subjects

Notice the difference when there are multiple subjects in the same arena:

• To select data of a subject based on that subject being in contact with any other subject, choose Body contact under Nesting. In the Receivers tab specify which subject was in contact with the focal subject. See the procedure below.
• To select data of a subject based on when other subjects were in contact with any subject, choose Body contact under Nesting over Subjects. There you find the Actors tab where you can specify which subjects were in contact with any other subject. See the notes below and also Nesting over Subjects.

Procedure

1. In the Data Profile, under Nesting click the button next to Body contact.
2. In the Body contact window, select the state that defines the intervals to analyze. For details on how Body contact is calculated, see Dependent Variables in Detail > Body contact.
3. Click OK. Proceed with step 4 in How to Select Track Segments.

Notes

• You can nest over "No contact" to filter out all the instances of body contact. For example, if contact situations result in subject identity swaps or nose-tail swaps.
• If you select Body contact under Nesting over Subjects, the Actors tab is also available. The track segments are selected based on the Body contact of the Actors. For example, if the arena contains three subjects and in the Actors tab you select Subject 1 and Subject 3, the data are selected when both Subject 1 and 3 are in contact with any subject, or when at least one of them is in contact with any other subject. For details and examples, see Nesting over Subjects. With Nesting over Subjects, you cannot specify body contact between two specific subjects. If you select Subject 1 and Subject 3 in the Actors tab, you will not get the track segments when those two subjects are in contact. Instead, you get the track segments when, depending on the options you choose, both subjects (or at least one) are in contact with any subject.