Spatial coincidence of cues in visual learning by the honeybee (Apis mellifera)

Abstract

The discrimination of patterns was studied in a Y-choice chamber fitted with a transparent baffle in each arm, through which the bees had a choice of two targets via openings 5 cm wide. The bees see the positive (rewarded) and the negative (unrewarded) targets from a fixed distance. The patterns were bars (subtending 22° × 5.4° at the point of choice) presented in one-quarter of each target. The bars were moved to a different quarter of the target every 5 min, to make the location of black useless as a cue. A coincident presentation is when the bar on the left target is on the same side of the target as the bar on the right target. The bees learn the orientation cue when the presentation is coincident but otherwise cannot learn it. This experiment shows that bees do not centre their attention on the individual bars, otherwise they would always discriminate the orientation. Centring the target as a whole precedes learning. Having learned with the bar on one side of the targets, bees do not recognize the same cue presented on the other side. A separate orientation cue can be learned on each side. A radial/tangential cue is preferred to a conflicting orientation cue. Show more