Data from: Bumblebees show cognitive flexibility by improving on an observed complex behavior

We explored bees’ behavioral flexibility in a task that required transporting a small ball to a defined location to gain a reward. Bees were pretrained to know the correct location of the ball. Subsequently, to obtain a reward, bees had to move a displaced ball to the defined location. Bees that observed demonstration of the technique from a live or model demonstrator learned the task more efficiently than did bees observing a “ghost” demonstration (ball moved via magnet) or without demonstration. Instead of copying demonstrators moving balls over long distances, observers solved the task more efficiently, using the ball positioned closest to the target, even if it was of a different color than the one previously observed. Such unprecedented cognitive flexibility hints that entirely novel behaviors could emerge relatively swiftly in species whose lifestyle demands advanced learning abilities, should relevant ecological pressures arise.

本研究在一项要求将小型球体搬运至指定位置以获取奖励的任务范式中，探究了蜜蜂的行为灵活性。实验前，蜜蜂已接受预训练以熟悉球体的正确放置位置。后续阶段，蜜蜂需将被移位的球体搬运至该指定位置，方可获得奖励。相较于观察"幽灵示范"（即通过磁铁操控球体移动）或未接受任何示范的蜜蜂，从活体示范者或模型示范者处习得该操作技巧的蜜蜂，任务学习效率显著更高。观察者蜜蜂并未模仿示范者长距离搬运球体，而是采用了更高效的解题策略：选用距目标位置最近的球体，即便该球体的颜色与此前观察到的球体存在差异。这种前所未有的认知灵活性暗示，若相关生态压力出现，在那些生存模式依赖高级学习能力的物种中，全新的行为模式或可相对快速地涌现。