Psychophysics and the evolution of behavior

Akre, Karin L.; Johnsen, Sönke

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2014.03.007

Cited by 110 publications

(123 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…More recently, however, two studies (97,119) found that individuals of several ant species respond in a proportional, linear manner to trail pheromone, which is consistent with Weber's law. Weber's law states that animals compare two stimuli based on proportional differences (see Figure 3), rather than absolute differences, and has been confirmed in various animals across several sensory modalities (2). This suggests that Weber's law represents a common feature of many animal sensory systems, which makes it an attractive framework for interpreting ant responses to pheromones.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 93%

“…(b) The absolute difference between branches is the same as in panel a, but the proportional difference is much smaller. Weber's law states that the sensory systems of animals discriminate between stimuli based on proportional differences, rather than absolute differences (2). Hence, ants find it more difficult to discriminate between the two branches in panel b.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

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Trail Pheromones: An Integrative View of Their Role in Social Insect Colony Organization

Czaczkes

Grüter

Ratnieks

2015

Annu. Rev. Entomol.

183

159

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Trail pheromones do more than simply guide social insect workers from point A to point B. Recent research has revealed additional ways in which they help to regulate colony foraging, often via positive and negative feedback processes that influence the exploitation of the different resources that a colony has knowledge of. Trail pheromones are often complementary or synergistic with other information sources, such as individual memory. Pheromone trails can be composed of two or more pheromones with different functions, and information may be embedded in the trail network geometry. These findings indicate remarkable sophistication in how trail pheromones are used to regulate colony-level behavior, and how trail pheromones are used and deployed at the individual level.

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Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Trail Pheromones: An Integrative View of Their Role in Social Insect Colony Organization

Czaczkes

Grüter

Ratnieks

2015

Annu. Rev. Entomol.

183

159

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“…It plays a major role in psychology and neurobiology. Its main subjects are humans but it has also been successfully applied to perception and behavior in primates, birds and insects (Britten et al 1992;Sarris 2006;Dyer et al 2008;Chittka et al 2009;Sasaki et al 2013;Akre and Johnsen 2014) and in decision-making processes (Kacelnik and Brito e Abreu 1998;Gold and Shadlen 2007). Weber (1834) discovered that the ability to discriminate between two stimuli depends on the ratio of the stimulus strengths, which is within certain limits independent of the absolute stimulus strengths (Weber's law).…”

Section: Psychophysical Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Pheromone communication in ants: a detailed analysis of concentration-dependent decisions in three species

Thienen

Metzler

Choe

et al. 2014

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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The collective behavior of ants and the emergence of self-organizing patterns in ant colonies have been explained with various theoretical approaches based on models of trail following behavior elicited by pheromones. Although existing models can explain collective behavior of ants, there is little empirical evidence on how ants precisely respond to various pheromone concentrations. Thus, important knowledge is lacking about how much realistic description of ant behavior can be provided by the models and their underlying mathematical functions. To fill in this gap, we conducted experiments with three different ant species to explore their responses to varying concentrations of pheromones that elicit ants' trail following behavior. We found that ants' decision making processes in trail following are best explained by psychophysical theory (PT), which describes the relationship between physical stimuli, sensory perception and decision making in humans, other primates, birds and insects. Furthermore, the theory provides clear definitions of biological parameters, such as detection-and discrimination thresholds. The species studied were distinctively different in the shape and parameters of their psychometric functions, which we attribute to specific adaptions to their environment. The observed differences are discussed in relation to their natural trail following behaviors. Our study opens a new perspective of understanding and explaining important aspects of collective ant behavior using a wellestablished theory of perception.

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“…A fundamental property of biological sensory and cognitive systems is that discrimination thresholds augment proportionally to the intensity of stimuli (Weber's law) such that, over a large dynamic range, psychological sensation scales with the logarithm of stimulus intensity (Fechner's law;Dehaene 2003;Goldstein 2010;Akre and Johnsen 2014). Therefore, animals discriminate better among stimuli of low than of high intensity within their sensory range.…”

Section: Reflectance Ratios In Colour Perception and In Colour Producmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Reflectance Ratios to Study Animal Coloration

Cardoso

Gomes

2015

Evol Biol

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Reflectance spectrophotometry is used to quantify animal coloration and compare it across individuals, populations or species. While principles of colour perception, pigment-based colour production, and some structural-based colour production, all conform to reflectance differences on a ratio scale, reflectance is usually measured on a linear scale. Processing reflectance spectra on a linear scale distorts colour information (e.g. averaging linear spectra overestimates mean brightness), and computing receiver-independent colour metrics using linear reflectance can bias results (e.g. it underestimates differences in saturation and brightness among dark colours). Working with reflectance spectra on a ratio scale obviates those issues and improves several aspects of colour analysis, from better visualization of reflectance spectra and control of measurement error, to better colour metrics.

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Psychophysics and the evolution of behavior

Cited by 110 publications

References 84 publications

Trail Pheromones: An Integrative View of Their Role in Social Insect Colony Organization

Trail Pheromones: An Integrative View of Their Role in Social Insect Colony Organization

Pheromone communication in ants: a detailed analysis of concentration-dependent decisions in three species

Using Reflectance Ratios to Study Animal Coloration

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