An attempt was made to classically condition the mouthparts of harnessed worker ants (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) in anticipation of feeding. Experiments were designed to investigate classical conditioning with one CS, discrimination between two CSs, and pseudoconditioning. Analysis indicated a small acquisition effect that could be accounted for by pseudoconditioning. The preparation can be used to study nonassociative learning and some instrumental conditioning situations.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AbramsonC. I. (1981) Passive avoidance in the California harvester antPogonmyrmex californicus. Journal of General Psychology, 104, 29–40.
2.
AbramsonC. I. (1986) Aversive conditioning in honey bees (Apis mellifera). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 100, 108–116.
3.
AbramsonC. I. (1990) Invertebrate learning: a laboratory manual and sourcebook.Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
4.
AbramsonC. I. (1994) A primer of invertebrate learning: the behavioral perspective.Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
5.
AbramsonC. I.AquinoI. S.AzeredoG. A.FilhoJ. R. M.PriceJ. M. (1997) The attraction of Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) to soft drinks and perfumes. Journal of General Psychology, 124, 166–181.
6.
AbramsonC. I.AquinoI. S.RamalhoF. S.PriceJ. M. (1999) Effect of insecticides on learning in the Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 37, 529–535.
7.
AbramsonC. I.AquinoI. S.SilvaM. C.PriceJ. M. (1997) Learning in the Africanized honey bee: Apis mellifera L. Physiology & Behavior, 62, 657–674.
8.
AbramsonC. I.AquinoI. S.StoneS. M. (1999) Failure to find proboscis conditioning in one-day old Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) and in adult Urucu honey bees (Melipona scutellaris). International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 12, 242–262.
9.
AbramsonC. I.BoydB. J. (2001) An automated apparatus for conditioning proboscis extension in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). Journal of Entomological Science, 36, 78–92.
10.
AbramsonC. I.BuckbeeD. A. (1995) Pseudoconditioning in earthworms (Lumhricus terrestris): support for nonassociative explanations of classical conditioning phenomena through an olfactory paradigm. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 109, 390–397.
11.
AbramsonC. I.CollierD. M.MarcucellaH. (1997) An aversive conditioning unit for ants. Behavior Research Methods & Instrumentation, 9, 505–507.
12.
AquinoI. S.AbramsonC. I.PaytonM. E. (1999) A rapid bioassay for detection of adulterated beeswax. Journal of Entomological Science, 34, 265–272.
13.
BittermanM. E. (1988) Vertebrate-invertebrate comparisons. In JerisonH. J.JerisonI. (Eds.), Intelligence and evolutionary biology.Berlin: Springer-Verlag. Pp. 251–275.
14.
BittermanM. E. (1996) Comparative analysis of learning in honeybees. Animal Learning & Behavior, 24, 123–141.
15.
BittermanM. E.MenzelR.FietzA.SchäferS. (1983) Classical conditioning of proboscis extension in honeybees (Apis mellifera). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 97, 107–119.
16.
CarlinN. F.JohnstonA. B. (1984) Learned enemy specifications in the defense recruitment system of an ant. Naturwisssenschaften, 71, 156–157.
17.
CarlinN. F.SchwartzP. H. (1989) Pre-imaginal experience and nestmate brood recognition in the carpenter ant, Camponotus floridanus. Animal Behaviour, 38, 89–95.
18.
DeCarloL. T.AbramsonC. I. (1989) Time allocation in the carpenter ant (Componotus herculeanus). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 103, 389–400.
19.
ErrardC. (1994) Long-term memory involved in nestmate recognition in ants. Animal Behaviour, 48, 263–271.
20.
EvansS. M. (1966a) Non-associative avoidance learning in Nereid polychaetes. Animal Behaviour, 14, 102–106.
21.
EvansS. M. (1966b) Non-associative behavioural modifications in the polychaeteNereis diversicolor. Animal Behaviour, 14, 107–119.
22.
FringsH. (1944) The loci of olfactory end-organs in the honeybee. Journal of Experimental Zoology, 97, 123–134.
23.
GretherW. F. (1938) Pseudo-conditioning, without paired stimulation encountered in attempted backward conditioning. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 25, 91–96.
24.
HarrisJ. D. (1943) Studies of nonassociative factors inherent in conditioning. Comparative Psychology Monographs, 18, No. 1 (Serial No. 93).
25.
HarrisonJ. M.BreedM. D. (1987) Temporal learning in the giant tropical ant, Paraponera clavata. Physiological Entomology, 12, 1579–1581.
26.
HoaclandH. (1931) A study of the physiology of learning in ants. Journal of General Psychology, 5, 21–41.
27.
HölldoblerB.WilsonE. O. (1990) The ants.Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
28.
HölldoblerB.WilsonE. O. (1994) Journey to the ants: a story of scientific exploration.Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
29.
IsingrjniM.LenoirA.JaissonP. (1985) Preimaginal learning as a basis of colony-brood recognition in the antCataglyphis cursor. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 82, 8545–8547.
30.
JaissonP. (1980) Environmental preferences induced experimentally in ants (Hymenoptera: formicidae). Nature, 286, 388–389.
31.
KarasA. Y.UdalovaG. P. (1999) Behavioral strategies in ants in changing conditions of food motivation. Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology, 29, 263–269.
32.
KuwabaraM. (1957) Bildung des bedingten reflexes von pavlous typus bei der honigbiene, Apis mellifera [Establishment of Pavlovian conditioned reflexes in honeybees]. Journal of the Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Zoology, 13, 458–464.
33.
LenoirA. (1979) Early influence and division of labour in the ant Lasius niger. Abstracts of the Sixteenth International Conference of Ethology (Vancouver, B.C.).
34.
LubbockJ. (1906) Ants, bees, and wasps: a record of observations on the habits of the social hymenoptera.New York: Appleton.
35.
MackintoshN. J. (1974) The psychology of animal learning.New York: Academic Press.
36.
MenzelR.HammerM.BraunG.MauelshaugenJ.SugawaM. (1991) Neurobiology of learning and memory in honevbees. In GoodmanL. J.FisherR. C. (Eds.), The behavior of and physiology of bees.Slough, UK: C.A.B. International. Pp. 323–353.
37.
MenzelR.MüllerU. (1996) Learning and memory in honey bees—from behavior to neural substrates. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 19, 379–404.
38.
RosengrenR. (1971) Route fidelity, visual memory and recruitment behaviour in foraging wood ants of the genus Formica (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Acta Zoologica Fennica, No. 133.
39.
SchatzB.BeugnonG.LachaudJ. (1994) Time-place learning by an invertebrate, the ant Ectatomma ruidum Roger. Animal Behaviour, 48, 236–238.
40.
SchatzB.ChameronS.BeugnonG.CollettT. S. (1999) The use of path integration to guide route learning in ants. Nature, 399, 769–772.
41.
SchneirlaT. C. (1929) Learning and orientation in ants. Comparative Psychology Monographs, 17, 303–328.
42.
SchneirlaT. C. (1933) Motivation and efficiency in ant learning. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 15, 243–266.
43.
SchneirlaT. C. (1941) Studies on the nature of ant learning: I. The combination-problem and the successive-presentation problem. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 32, 41–82.
44.
SchneirlaT. C. (1943) The nature of ant learning: II. The intermediate stage of segmental maze adjustment. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 34, 149–176.
45.
ShepardJ. (1911) Some results in comparative psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 8, 41–42.
46.
SkaifeS. H. (1961) The study of ants.London: Longmans.
47.
StoneJ. C.AbramsonC. I.PriceJ. M. (1997) Task dependent effects of dicofol (Kelthane) on learning in the honey bee (Apis mellifera). Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 58, 177–183.
48.
TakedaK. (1961) Classical conditioned response in the honeybee. Journal of Insect Physiology, 6, 168–179.
49.
TurnerC. H. (1907a) Do ants form practical judgments?Biological Bulletin, 13, 333–343.
50.
TurnerC. H. (1907b) The homing of ants: an experimental study of ant behavior. Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology, 17, 367–434.
51.
UdalovaG. P.KarasA. J. (1997) Learning, memory, and motivation in ants. In AbramsonC. I.ShuranovaZ. P.BurmistrovY. M. (Eds.), Russian contributions to invertebrate behavior.Westport, CT: Praeger. Pp. 145–175.
52.
VareschiE. (1971) Duftunterscheidung bei den honigbiene: Einzellzel-ableitungen und verhaltensreaktionen [Odor discrimination by the honeybee: single cell recording and behavior reaction]. Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Physiologie, 75, 143–173.
53.
VowlesD. M. (1964) Olfactory learning and brain lesions in the wood ant (Formica rufa). Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 58, 105–111.
54.
VowlesD. M. (1965) Maze learning and visual discrimination in the wood ant (Formica rufa). British Journal of Psychology, 56, 15–31.
