In the lab, 478 trials were conducted using a total of 956 crickets. The 478 pairs resulted in 264 wins for the resident cricket and 214 wins for the intruding crickets. These results produced a chi squared value of 5.230. The p-value calculated from this lab was .022. A chi squared value of .022, less than the benchmark of .05 means the data from the lab was significant and statistically rejects the null hypothesis that there was no correlation between residency and aggression between male crickets. The null hypothesis suggested the wins should have been equal at 239 wins for the intruder and 239 wins for the resident. If the chi squared test resulted in a p-value above .05 then the null hypothesis would have been accepted and could confirm no relationship between residency and aggression.
Discussion …show more content…
There are many factors that contribute to determining who wins when matched up with another crickets, residency being just one of them (Alexander 1961). Unlike most other tests, house crickets (Acheta Domesticus) were used in place of field crickets. House crickets are not native to the US and are often bred and raised in pet stores (Weissman 1977). This limited the experiments effectiveness because these crickets were raised in conditions unlike wild crickets. These males were contained with other males since they were born meaning they were socialized much more than wild crickets who show more willingness to fight (Hoffman 2001). There are other factors that could have contributed to the resident cricket winning more fights, including the use of paint pens to mark the intruder cricket. The sudden application of paint on the backs of the intruder cricket could have caused increased stress and exertion before ever entering the resident crickets territory. Often crickets had to be scraped from their enclosure using paint brushes potentially harming them before entering to fight. Some crickets were observed only using one back