Identification of a new contingency-based response in honey bees (Apis mellifera) through revision of the proboscis extension conditioning paradigm

Abstract

The two experiments reported present new information in the area of classical conditioning experiments with honey bees. Experiment 1 establishes a single unconditioned stimulus (US) technique as a preferred technique for conditioning of the proboscis extension response. Experiment 1 further identifies a new head turn response which occurs when the standard compound US technique is used. Experiment 2 demonstrates that the newly identified head turn response is contingency-based and provides important new response to the repertoire of honey bee learning experiments.