Abstract
We aimed to investigate on the ability of the ant Myrmica sabuleti in learning a behavioral sequence. We created two sequences consisting in navigating through five successive elements on the way to the nest, and tried to learn them to foragers. They could progressively learn a sequence for which the different steps were presented in a backward order. Doing so, each exhibited step leaded to an already known step and thus to the reward consisting in finally entering the nest. The ants were unable to learn a behavioral sequence for which the different steps were presented in a forward order. With the latter kind of presentation, each exhibited step leaded to an unknown step and thus not to the reward. Myrmica sabuleti ants learned thus a behavioral sequence when going through operant conditioning and not by using the response to a step as a motivation for responding to the next step. On the contrary, highly evolved mammals (monkey, humans) and birds (parrots) can learn a behavioral sequence according to a backward or a forward chaining, or by being presented with the entire sequence and memorizing, then imitating the different steps.
Highlights
Learning a sequence of acts is an ability detained by several evolved species, above all by some birds and monkeys
A difference of learning method between species seems to exist for the ‘response chaining’ ability since some controversy aroused as for the method used by the animals which learn a behavioral sequence during such a chaining experiment
We worked on Myrmica sabuleti Meinert 1861, the biology of which is rather well known since we have examined its ecology, eye morphology, visual perception, conditioning ability, recruitment system, navigation strategy
Summary
Learning a sequence of acts is an ability detained by several evolved species, above all by some birds and monkeys. A ‘simultaneous chaining’ occurs when an individual is simultaneously confronted to several elements and succeeds in selecting each element in a given ‘correct’ order which leads to a reward (Terrace, 1986) During the latter learning, pigeons and monkeys appear to solve the problem using different learning methods (Terrace, 1987; D’Amato & Colombo, 1988). Two theories were proposed to explain the ‘response chaining’ learning ability (Thvedt, Zane, & Walls, 1984): (a) a response functioning itself as a stimulus for presenting a subsequent response; (b) a response producing a stimulus (i.e. allowing the apparition of a stimulus) which functions as an ‘invitation’ to present a subsequent response These two theories correspond, to the two ways an animal can be learned a response chaining.
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