10.15131/shef.data.12344288.v1
HaDi MaBouDi
HaDi
MaBouDi
Cwyn Solvi
Cwyn
Solvi
Lars Chittka
Lars
Chittka
Cognitive strategy switching in bumblebees
The University of Sheffield
2020
Abstract Concepts
adaptive decision making
animal cognition
behavioural analysis
Cognitive Flexibility
Animal Behaviour
Behavioral Neuroscience
Comparative Physiology
Computational Biology
Neuroscience
2020-05-20 23:23:45
Dataset
https://orda.shef.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Cognitive_strategy_switching_in_bumblebees/12344288
Mapping animal performance in a behavioral task to underlying cognitive mechanisms and strategies is rarely straightforward, since a task may be solvable in more than one manner. Here, we show that bumblebees perform well on a concept-based visual discrimination task, but spontaneously switch from a concept-based solution to a simpler heuristic with extended training, all while continually increasing performance. Bumblebees were trained in an arena to find reward on displays with shapes of different sizes where they could not use low-level visual cues. One group of bees was rewarded at displays with bigger shapes and another group at displays with smaller shapes. Analysis of total choices shows bees increased their performance over 30 bouts to above chance. However, analyses of first and sequential choices suggest that after approximately 20 bouts, bumblebees changed to a win-stay/lose-switch strategy. Comparing bees’ behavior to a probabilistic model based on a win-stay/lose-switch strategy further supports the idea that bees changed strategies with extensive training. Analyses of unrewarded tests indicate bumblebees learned and retained the concept of relative size even after they had already switched to a win-stay, lost-shift strategy. We propose that the reason for this strategy switching may be due to cognitive flexibility and efficiency.