Measurement notes
Specify whether investigation means nose within a radius, direct sniffing, chamber time near a cup, or manual social contact. Separate social-zone time from true nose-oriented investigation when possible.
Endpoint methods library
Social behavior endpoint
Social investigation time
Time spent investigating a conspecific or social stimulus under a defined nose, body-point, or chamber-zone rule.
Unit
seconds or percent session time
Readout
Time spent near, oriented to, sniffing, or otherwise investigating a social stimulus
Assays
Three-chamber social approach, reciprocal interaction, partition test, social novelty
Decision summary
Use social investigation time when the study asks how much an animal samples a conspecific or social cue. Interpret it with locomotion, side bias, stimulus identity, olfaction, chamber occupancy, and nonsocial control exploration.
| Primary value | Time spent near, oriented to, sniffing, or otherwise investigating a social stimulus |
|---|---|
| Common units | Seconds, percent session time, investigation ratio, bout count |
| Compatible assays | Three-chamber social approach, reciprocal interaction, partition test, social novelty |
| Required boundary | Investigation definition, stimulus animal handling, chamber layout, and session window |
| Do not infer alone | Sociability, preference, empathy, motivation, or autism-like behavior without controls |
Interpretation limit
Lower social investigation can reflect reduced social approach, but olfactory deficits, low locomotion, anxiety, aggression, stimulus-animal behavior, side bias, or novelty avoidance can drive the same outcome.
Data capture
Store animal ID, stimulus ID, stimulus sex and familiarity, chamber side, investigation time, nonsocial object time, chamber occupancy, entries, distance, sniff bouts, aggression flags, and exclusions.
Confound checks
- Stimulus animal age, sex, strain, familiarity, or activity differs across tests.
- Olfactory impairment, low locomotion, or anxiety-like avoidance changes investigation.
- Side bias, chamber cues, cup design, or stimulus containment differs.
- Manual scoring and automated nose-point rules are not aligned.
- Aggression, mounting, freezing, or grooming is counted as investigation.
Reporting checklist
- Assay type, chamber dimensions, stimulus containment, and habituation procedure.
- Stimulus animal identity, sex, age, strain, familiarity, and counterbalancing.
- Investigation definition, scoring method, body point, radius, and blinding.
- Social investigation time, nonsocial/object time, chamber time, entries, and distance.
- Rules for aggression, climbing, sitting near a cup, grooming, freezing, and tracking loss.
- Olfaction controls, side-bias checks, sex, strain, age, and housing conditions.
References
Evidence notes
Endpoint pages should cite the method literature behind the scored value and keep high-specificity protocol claims qualified unless the source supports them.
- Moy SS et al. Sociability and preference for social novelty in five inbred strains: an approach to assess autistic-like behavior in mice. Genes Brain Behav. 2004. doi:10.1111/j.1601-1848.2004.00076.x.
- Silverman JL, Yang M, Lord C, Crawley JN. Behavioural phenotyping assays for mouse models of autism. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2010. doi:10.1038/nrn2851.
Related workflow paths
Endpoint articles link to adjacent products, software workflows, and sibling endpoints where the connection is useful and already routable.
