A test of transitive inferences in free-flying honeybees: Unsuccessful performance due to memory constraints. Benard, J. & Giurfa, M. Learn Mem, 11(3):328-36, 2004. doi abstract bibtex We asked whether honeybees, Apis mellifera, could solve a transitive inference problem. Individual free-flying bees were conditioned with four overlapping premise pairs of five visual patterns in a multiple discrimination task (A+ vs. B-, B+ vs. C-, C+ vs. D-, D+ vs. E-, where + and - indicate sucrose reward or absence of it, respectively). They were then tested with the nonadjacent pairs A vs. E and B vs. D. Preference of B to D is consistent with the use of the implicit hierarchy A > B > C > D > E. Equal choice of B and D supports choice based on the associative strength of the stimuli. The bees' choice was determined by their memory constraints: experience with the last premise pair (D+ vs. E-) predominated. In the tests, bees preferred A to E and chose equally B and D. An analysis of the performance in terms of a reward/penalty ratio showed that B had a higher associative strength than D. Thus, bees do not establish transitive inferences but, rather, guide their choices by the joint action of a recency effect and the associative strength of the stimuli. The former supports choice of D, whereas the latter supports choice of B, thus determining equal choice of B and D in the tests.
@Article{Benard2004,
author = {Julie Benard and Martin Giurfa},
journal = {Learn Mem},
title = {A test of transitive inferences in free-flying honeybees: {U}nsuccessful performance due to memory constraints.},
year = {2004},
number = {3},
pages = {328-36},
volume = {11},
abstract = {We asked whether honeybees, Apis mellifera, could solve a transitive
inference problem. Individual free-flying bees were conditioned with
four overlapping premise pairs of five visual patterns in a multiple
discrimination task (A+ vs. B-, B+ vs. C-, C+ vs. D-, D+ vs. E-,
where + and - indicate sucrose reward or absence of it, respectively).
They were then tested with the nonadjacent pairs A vs. E and B vs.
D. Preference of B to D is consistent with the use of the implicit
hierarchy A > B > C > D > E. Equal choice of B and D supports choice
based on the associative strength of the stimuli. The bees' choice
was determined by their memory constraints: experience with the last
premise pair (D+ vs. E-) predominated. In the tests, bees preferred
A to E and chose equally B and D. An analysis of the performance
in terms of a reward/penalty ratio showed that B had a higher associative
strength than D. Thus, bees do not establish transitive inferences
but, rather, guide their choices by the joint action of a recency
effect and the associative strength of the stimuli. The former supports
choice of D, whereas the latter supports choice of B, thus determining
equal choice of B and D in the tests.},
doi = {10.1101/lm.72204},
keywords = {Analysis of Variance, Animal, Animal Feed, Animals, Associ, Bees, Behavior, Chi-Square Distribution, Choice Behavior, Classical, Cognition, Comparative Study, Conditioning, Discrimination Learning, Enzyme Inhibitors, Female, Flight, Flowers, Generalization, Generalization (Psychology), Homing Behavior, Hydroxyurea, Laterality, Maze Learning, Memory, Mushroom Bodies, Non-U.S. Gov't, Odor, Odors, Olfactory Bulb, Pattern Recognition, Percep, Photic Sti, Problem Solving, Reaction Time, Receptors, Research Support, Smell, Spatial Behavior, Stimulus, Time Factors, Vision, Visual, Visual Perception, ant, ation Learning, mulation, tual Masking, 15169863},
}
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{"_id":"rfodbQjAMgF6CX92s","bibbaseid":"benard-giurfa-atestoftransitiveinferencesinfreeflyinghoneybeesunsuccessfulperformanceduetomemoryconstraints-2004","author_short":["Benard, J.","Giurfa, M."],"bibdata":{"bibtype":"article","type":"article","author":[{"firstnames":["Julie"],"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Benard"],"suffixes":[]},{"firstnames":["Martin"],"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Giurfa"],"suffixes":[]}],"journal":"Learn Mem","title":"A test of transitive inferences in free-flying honeybees: Unsuccessful performance due to memory constraints.","year":"2004","number":"3","pages":"328-36","volume":"11","abstract":"We asked whether honeybees, Apis mellifera, could solve a transitive inference problem. Individual free-flying bees were conditioned with four overlapping premise pairs of five visual patterns in a multiple discrimination task (A+ vs. B-, B+ vs. C-, C+ vs. D-, D+ vs. E-, where + and - indicate sucrose reward or absence of it, respectively). They were then tested with the nonadjacent pairs A vs. E and B vs. D. Preference of B to D is consistent with the use of the implicit hierarchy A > B > C > D > E. Equal choice of B and D supports choice based on the associative strength of the stimuli. The bees' choice was determined by their memory constraints: experience with the last premise pair (D+ vs. E-) predominated. In the tests, bees preferred A to E and chose equally B and D. An analysis of the performance in terms of a reward/penalty ratio showed that B had a higher associative strength than D. Thus, bees do not establish transitive inferences but, rather, guide their choices by the joint action of a recency effect and the associative strength of the stimuli. The former supports choice of D, whereas the latter supports choice of B, thus determining equal choice of B and D in the tests.","doi":"10.1101/lm.72204","keywords":"Analysis of Variance, Animal, Animal Feed, Animals, Associ, Bees, Behavior, Chi-Square Distribution, Choice Behavior, Classical, Cognition, Comparative Study, Conditioning, Discrimination Learning, Enzyme Inhibitors, Female, Flight, Flowers, Generalization, Generalization (Psychology), Homing Behavior, Hydroxyurea, Laterality, Maze Learning, Memory, Mushroom Bodies, Non-U.S. Gov't, Odor, Odors, Olfactory Bulb, Pattern Recognition, Percep, Photic Sti, Problem Solving, Reaction Time, Receptors, Research Support, Smell, Spatial Behavior, Stimulus, Time Factors, Vision, Visual, Visual Perception, ant, ation Learning, mulation, tual Masking, 15169863","bibtex":"@Article{Benard2004,\n author = {Julie Benard and Martin Giurfa},\n journal = {Learn Mem},\n title = {A test of transitive inferences in free-flying honeybees: {U}nsuccessful performance due to memory constraints.},\n year = {2004},\n number = {3},\n pages = {328-36},\n volume = {11},\n abstract = {We asked whether honeybees, Apis mellifera, could solve a transitive\n\tinference problem. Individual free-flying bees were conditioned with\n\tfour overlapping premise pairs of five visual patterns in a multiple\n\tdiscrimination task (A+ vs. B-, B+ vs. C-, C+ vs. D-, D+ vs. E-,\n\twhere + and - indicate sucrose reward or absence of it, respectively).\n\tThey were then tested with the nonadjacent pairs A vs. E and B vs.\n\tD. Preference of B to D is consistent with the use of the implicit\n\thierarchy A > B > C > D > E. Equal choice of B and D supports choice\n\tbased on the associative strength of the stimuli. The bees' choice\n\twas determined by their memory constraints: experience with the last\n\tpremise pair (D+ vs. E-) predominated. In the tests, bees preferred\n\tA to E and chose equally B and D. An analysis of the performance\n\tin terms of a reward/penalty ratio showed that B had a higher associative\n\tstrength than D. Thus, bees do not establish transitive inferences\n\tbut, rather, guide their choices by the joint action of a recency\n\teffect and the associative strength of the stimuli. The former supports\n\tchoice of D, whereas the latter supports choice of B, thus determining\n\tequal choice of B and D in the tests.},\n doi = {10.1101/lm.72204},\n keywords = {Analysis of Variance, Animal, Animal Feed, Animals, Associ, Bees, Behavior, Chi-Square Distribution, Choice Behavior, Classical, Cognition, Comparative Study, Conditioning, Discrimination Learning, Enzyme Inhibitors, Female, Flight, Flowers, Generalization, Generalization (Psychology), Homing Behavior, Hydroxyurea, Laterality, Maze Learning, Memory, Mushroom Bodies, Non-U.S. Gov't, Odor, Odors, Olfactory Bulb, Pattern Recognition, Percep, Photic Sti, Problem Solving, Reaction Time, Receptors, Research Support, Smell, Spatial Behavior, Stimulus, Time Factors, Vision, Visual, Visual Perception, ant, ation Learning, mulation, tual Masking, 15169863},\n}\n\n","author_short":["Benard, J.","Giurfa, M."],"key":"Benard2004","id":"Benard2004","bibbaseid":"benard-giurfa-atestoftransitiveinferencesinfreeflyinghoneybeesunsuccessfulperformanceduetomemoryconstraints-2004","role":"author","urls":{},"keyword":["Analysis of Variance","Animal","Animal Feed","Animals","Associ","Bees","Behavior","Chi-Square Distribution","Choice Behavior","Classical","Cognition","Comparative Study","Conditioning","Discrimination Learning","Enzyme Inhibitors","Female","Flight","Flowers","Generalization","Generalization (Psychology)","Homing Behavior","Hydroxyurea","Laterality","Maze Learning","Memory","Mushroom Bodies","Non-U.S. Gov't","Odor","Odors","Olfactory Bulb","Pattern Recognition","Percep","Photic Sti","Problem Solving","Reaction Time","Receptors","Research Support","Smell","Spatial Behavior","Stimulus","Time Factors","Vision","Visual","Visual Perception","ant","ation Learning","mulation","tual Masking","15169863"],"metadata":{"authorlinks":{}}},"bibtype":"article","biburl":"https://endress.org/publications/ansgar.bib","dataSources":["xPGxHAeh3vZpx4yyE","TXa55dQbNoWnaGmMq"],"keywords":["analysis of variance","animal","animal feed","animals","associ","bees","behavior","chi-square distribution","choice behavior","classical","cognition","comparative study","conditioning","discrimination learning","enzyme inhibitors","female","flight","flowers","generalization","generalization (psychology)","homing behavior","hydroxyurea","laterality","maze learning","memory","mushroom bodies","non-u.s. gov't","odor","odors","olfactory bulb","pattern recognition","percep","photic sti","problem solving","reaction time","receptors","research support","smell","spatial behavior","stimulus","time factors","vision","visual","visual perception","ant","ation learning","mulation","tual masking","15169863"],"search_terms":["test","transitive","inferences","free","flying","honeybees","unsuccessful","performance","due","memory","constraints","benard","giurfa"],"title":"A test of transitive inferences in free-flying honeybees: Unsuccessful performance due to memory constraints.","year":2004}