The concepts of ‘sameness’ and ‘difference’ in an insect

Giurfa, Martín; Zhang, Shaowu; Jenett, Arnim; Menzel, Randolf; Srinivasan, Mandyam V.

doi:10.1038/35073582

Cited by 651 publications

(505 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…In other words, the bees could have been simultaneously learning a matching and a nonmatching task. Indeed, earlier work has shown that bees can be trained to perform matching as well as nonmatching tasks (23). Further study is required to explore whether bees can learn to perform similarly with sequences of more than two (e.g., three) sample stimuli.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They can learn to use symbolic rules for navigating through complex mazes and to apply these rules in flexible ways (18)(19). Like monkeys, pigeons, and other vertebrates (20)(21)(22), recent studies have shown that even honey bees can learn delayed matching-to-sample tasks (DMTS) and can apply the learned concept of ''sameness'' or ''difference'' to solve a novel DMTS task (23)(24). All of the above findings suggest that higher cognitive functions are not an exclusive privilege of vertebrates with much more complex nervous systems.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Visual working memory in decision making by honey bees

Zhang

Bock

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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142

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The robustness and plasticity of working memory were investigated in honey bees by using a delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) paradigm. The findings are summarized as follows: first, performance in the DMTS task decreases as the duration between the presentation of the sample stimulus and the presentation of the comparison stimuli is increased. This decrease is well approximated by an exponential decay function. Performance is significantly better than random-choice level even at delays as long as 5 sec and is reduced to random-choice levels at an average delay time of 8.68 ؎ 0.06 sec. Second, when the DMTS task involves two samples (one relevant, the other irrelevant), bees can be trained to learn to use the relevant sample to perform the task if (i) the relevant sample is always at a fixed position, or (ii) the relevant sample always has the same place in the sequence of presentation (always first or always second). Bees that have learned to use the relevant sample and to ignore the irrelevant sample can generalize this learning, and apply it to novel sets of sample and comparison stimuli that they have never previously encountered. The findings point to a remarkably robust, and yet plastic, working memory in the honey bee.honey bee learning ͉ matching-to-sample ͉ maze ͉ tunnel

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Visual working memory in decision making by honey bees

Zhang

Bock

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

142

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“…The learning of the concepts of sameness and difference was demonstrated through the protocols of delayed matching to sample (DMTS) and delayed non-matching to sample (DNMTS), respectively [9]. In these protocols, an animal is presented a non-reinforced sample and has afterwards to choose among two or more stimuli, one of which corresponds to the sample previously shown.…”

Section: (A) Sameness/difference Conceptsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptual learning by miniature brains

2013

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Concepts act as a cornerstone of human cognition. Humans and non-human primates learn conceptual relationships such as 'same', 'different', 'larger than', 'better than', among others. In all cases, the relationships have to be encoded by the brain independently of the physical nature of objects linked by the relation. Consequently, concepts are associated with high levels of cognitive sophistication and are not expected in an insect brain. Yet, various works have shown that the miniature brain of honeybees rapidly learns conceptual relationships involving visual stimuli. Concepts such as 'same', 'different', 'above/below of' or 'left/right are well mastered by bees. We review here evidence about concept learning in honeybees and discuss both its potential adaptive advantage and its possible neural substrates. The results reviewed here challenge the traditional view attributing supremacy to larger brains when it comes to the elaboration of concepts and have wide implications for understanding how brains can form conceptual relations.

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“…Recently, working memory in foraging honeybees has also been estimated using the DMTS procedure (see Section 1.26.4 and Giurfa et al, 2001), in which a free-flying bee is exposed to a visual stimulus (the sample) through which it should fly to then subsequently choose between two options, one of which corresponds to the sample. If the bee matches its choice to the sample it is rewarded with sucrose solution .…”

Section: Working Memory: Capacity and Durationmentioning

confidence: 99%