Analysis of time-inhomogeneity in Markov chains applied to mother-infant interactions of rhesus monkeys

Abstract When studying the interaction between mother-infant pairs of rhesus monkeys, inhomogeneities appear to exist during the awake phase of the infant, even under externally constant circumstances. These inhomogeneities are obscured by the stochastic nature of the bout lengths as well as the transitions between the several behavioural acts. An accurate description of the interaction, with the changes in the behaviour during the awake phase included, is necessary in order to be able to quantify the influence of the mother on the social development of the infant and vice versa. A mathematical model is described belonging to the class of continuous time Markov chains. This model gives an adequate characterization of the behavioural processes in a restricted number of ethologically wellinterpretable parameters. New procedures for estimating these parameters are derived, as well as tests on hypotheses concerning the number and magnitude of abrupt behavioural changes of the pairs. The pervasive motivational changes prior to or after napping by infants could be described comprehensively by the parameters developed.

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