title: Delayed symbolic matching in honeybees (Apis mellifera).
abstract: In a recent experiment on short-term memory (P. A. Couvillon, T. P. Ferreira, & M. E. Bitterman, 2003), honeybees (Apis mellifera) learned to choose between 2 colors on the basis of immediately preceding experience with 1 of them. Some learned to choose the same color as the sample (perseveration or matching), others to choose the alternative color (alternation or nonmatching). Performance in the 2 problems was very much the same. In the present experiment, honeybees learned no less readily to choose between the 2 colors on the basis of sample stimuli that were different from the colors (symbolic matching). A simple associative interpretation of the results is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Bekesy Laboratory of Neurobiology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
authors.forename: Maile H Y
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Cooke
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Couvillon
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Bitterman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior; D001245:Association Learning; D001516:Bees; D003118:Color Perception; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009949:Orientation; D013561:Symbolism