Abstract
The performance of individual honeybees pretrained to forage at a laboratory window was studied in three rudimentary analogues of the radial maze designed for the study of short-term spatial memory in rats. A linear arrangement of three targets was used in Experiment 1, a triangular arrangement of three targets in Experiment 2, and a rectangular arrangement of four targets in Experiment 3, with reward only for the first response to each of the targets presented on any given trial. Several systematic patterns of responding were observed, with no indication that the choices made by the animals were influenced by memory of targets recently visited.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Brown, M. F., &Demas, G. E. (1994). Evidence for spatial working memory in honeybees (Apis mellifera).Journal of Comparative Psychology,108, 344–352.
Couvillon, P. A., &Bitterman, M. E. (1991). How honeybees make choices. In J. L. Goodman & R. C. Fischer (Eds.),The behaviour and physiology of honeybees (pp. 116–130). Wallingford, U.K.: CAB International.
Couvillon, P. A., &Bitterman, M. E. (1992). Landmark learning by honeybees.Journal of Insect Behavior,5, 123–129.
Couvillon, P. A., &Bitterman, M. E. (1993). Learning in honeybees as a function of amount of reward: Further experiments with color.Animal Learning & Behavior,21, 23–28.
Dennis, W. (1939). Spontaneous alternation in rats as an indicator of the persistence of stimulus effects.Journal of Comparative Psychology,28, 305–312.
Frisch, K. von (1967).The dance language and orientation of bees. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, Belknap Press.
Giurfa, M., &Núñez, J. A. (1992). Honeybees mark with scent and reject recently visited flowers.Oecologia,89, 113–117.
Glanzer, M. (1953). The role of stimulus satiation in spontaneous alternation.Journal of Experimental Psychology,45, 387–393.
Greggers, U., &Menzel, R. (1993). Memory dynamics and foraging strategies of honeybees.Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology,32, 17–29.
Heathers, G. L. (1940). The avoidance of repetition of a maze reaction in the rat as a function of the time interval between trials.Journal of Psychology,10, 259–380.
Huber, B., Couvillon, P. A., &Bitterman, M. E. (1994). Place and position learning in honeybees (Apis mellifera).Journal of Comparative Psychology,108, 213–219.
Jackson, M. M. (1941). Reaction tendencies of the white rat in running and jumping situations.Journal of Comparative Psychology,31, 255–262.
Marden, J. H., &Waddington, K. D. (1981). Floral choices by honeybees in relation to the relative distances to flowers.Physiological Entomology,6, 431–435.
Menzel, R. (1968). Das Gedächtnis der Honigbiene für Spektralfarben: I. Kurtzzeitiges und langzeitiges Behalten.Zeitschrift für vergleichende Physiologie,60, 82–102.
Menzel, R., &Bitterman, M. E. (1983). Learning by honeybees in an unnatural situation. In F. Huber & H. Markl (Eds.),Neuroethology and behavioral physiology: Roots and growing points (pp. 206–215). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Montgomery, K. C. (1951). The relation between exploratory behavior and spontaneous alternation in the white rat.Journal of Comparative & Physiological Psychology,44, 582–589.
Montgomery, K. C. (1952). A test of two explanations of spontaneous alternation.Journal of Comparative Psychology,45, 287–293.
Núñez, J. A. (1967). Sammelbienen markieren versiegte Futterquellen durch Duft.Naturwissenschaften,54, 322–323.
Olton, D. S., &Samuelson, R. J. (1976). Remembrance of places passed: Spatial memory in rats.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,2, 97–116.
Waddington, K. D. (1980). Flight patterns of foraging bees relative to density of artificial flowers and distribution of nectar.Oecologia,44, 199–294.
Walker, E. L. (1956). The duration and course of the reaction decrement and the influence of reward.Journal of Comparative Psychology,49, 167–176.
Walker, M. M., Lee, Y., &Bitterman, M. E. (1990). Transfer along a continuum in the discriminative learning of honeybees (Apis mellifera).Journal of Comparative Psychology,104, 66–70.
Wingfield, R. C., &Dennis, W. (1934). The dependence of the rat’s choice of pathways upon the length of the daily trial series.Journal of Comparative Psychology,18, 135–147.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This research was supported by Grant IBN-9308132 from the National Science Foundation. The participation of S.B. was made possible by a grant from the New College Foundation. We are grateful to Lisa Travillion for pilot data, and to Michael F. Brown both for a preprint of his paper with Demas (Brown & Demas, 1994) and for information about their work that is not given in the paper.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Burmeister, S., Couvillon, P.A. & Bitterman, M.E. Performance of honeybees in analogues of the rodent radial maze. Animal Learning & Behavior 23, 369–375 (1995). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198936
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198936