CHOICE IN HONEYBEES AS A FUNCTION OF THE PROBABILITY OF REWARD

Honeybees foraging for sucrose at a laboratory window were trained in a series of ten 100-trial problems to choose between two targets diffe ring in odor, one of them providing 10 mul of a 50% sucrose solution a nd the other 10 mul of water. In 9 of the problems, two odors were use d, and the reward ratio was varied systematically over a wide range. I n the 10th problem, three odors were used in an ambiguous-cue (A+/B-, B+/C-) design. The results were predicted quantitatively, and with sub stantial accuracy, from a simple theory of learning and choice develop ed in previous work on simultaneous discrimination in honeybees.