Summary
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1.
The choice reaction of freely flying honey bees which are trained to a spectral colour and tested against an alternative colour is time dependent. Between 3 and 15 min after the reward the percentage of correct choices increases and reaches a steady state. This process is called consolidation.
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2.
Immediately after single short rewards (2, 5, 10 or 20 sec) the percentage of correct choices is as high as after 15 min of consolidation. The reaction decreases within 2 min and reaches a minimum. The time course of the percentage of correct choices in the honey bee after a single reward is bi-phasic.
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3.
In the first 4 min after a single reward the choice reaction is negatively correlated with the duration of reward. Short (2 sec) rewards lead to a higher percentage of correct choices than long (10 or 20 sec) rewards.
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4.
Rewards that last 100 msec or more act as a reinforcement in bees. The phasic response of the taste receptors is sufficient to associate a colour with sugar water. The optimum duration of reward after a single trial is about 1 sec.
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5.
The memory of the bee after a reward can be impaired by different treatments (electro-convulsive shock, CO2- or N2-narcosis and cooling).
The degree of susceptibility to impairment and the time dependence of the choice reaction until 2 min after the reward are correlated. It is discussed that short-term memory formation in the honey bee is based on different physiological mechanisms which work together.
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I thank Prof. Menzel and his research group for their support and many stimulating discussions and M. Blakers for helping me to prepare this manuscript.
Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Az. 741,29).
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Erber, J. The dynamics of learning in the honey bee (Apis mellifica carnica). J. Comp. Physiol. 99, 231–242 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00613837
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00613837