QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online March 14, 2005
Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 1019-1024 (2005)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2005
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01499

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Cheng, K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Cheng, K.

Context cues eliminate retroactive interference effects in honeybees Apis mellifera

Ken Cheng

Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

e-mail: ken{at}galliform.psy.mq.edu.au

Accepted 18 January 2005

Free flying honeybees were trained successively on two different tasks of landmark-based spatial memory. On both task 1 and task 2, the goal was at a consistent distance and direction from a cylindrical landmark. The colours of the landmarks differed for the two tasks. The target direction from the landmark in task 2 was opposite to that in task 1. The context in which task 2 took place was either the same as the task-1 context or different: being a short distance away, having different surrounding landmarks, and a different colour on the training table. After each task, the bees were tested on task 1 in the task-1 context (test 1 and test 2). If task 2 had the same context as task 1, the bees performed at chance on test 2. If task 2 had a different context, performance on test 2 was unaffected, remaining as good as on test 1. Contextual cues thus guide memory retrieval, and prevent any confusions about which response (that appropriate for task 1 or for task 2) to perform.

Key words: bees, context, interference, response competition, landmark, spatial memory

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Pahl, H. Zhu, W. Pix, J. Tautz, and S. Zhang Circadian timed episodic-like memory a bee knows what to do when, and also where J. Exp. Biol., October 15, 2007; 210(20): 3559 - 3567. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Graham, V. Durier, and T. Collett The co-activation of snapshot memories in wood ants J. Exp. Biol., June 15, 2007; 210(12): 2128 - 2136. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Zhang, S. Schwarz, M. Pahl, H. Zhu, and J. Tautz Honeybee memory: a honeybee knows what to do and when J. Exp. Biol., November 15, 2006; 209(22): 4420 - 4428. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]