It turns out that honeybees can recognize the concept of 'number' in combination with symbols
by
As usual, humans can associate numbers and quantities with the Arabic numeral symbols such as '6' and '32'. Although it is necessary to have high cognitive ability to connect symbols and numbers, it also turns out that honeybees with brains much smaller than humans can recognize by combining “symbols” indicating numbers and “numbers” as concepts. did.
Symbolic representation of numerosity by honeybees (Apis mellifera): Matching characters to small quantities | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2019.0238
Bees can link symbols to numbers, study finds
https://phys.org/news/2019-06-bees-link.html
We taught bees a simple number language – and they got it
https://theconversation.com/we-taught-bees-a-simple-number-language-and-they-got-it-117816
While there are over 86 billion neurons in the human brain, there are fewer than a million neurons in honeybees. Nevertheless, honeybees are known to have high information processing ability, and past studies have shown that they can understand the concept of 'zero'.
Honey bees found to understand the concept of 'zero'-GIGAZINE
The research team at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University) conducted an experiment to find out whether such symbols could be combined with the symbols representing numbers and numbers. It is known that primates such as chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys , and birds such as pigeons and parrots already have the ability to understand numbers from symbols such as Arabic letters.
In order to teach the bee the combination of symbols and numbers, the research team prepared a set of figures that represent the same symbols and numbers used in the pigeon experiment. The following image is a set of symbols and numbers used in the experiment, where the symbol in the form of 'N' represents the number '2' and the symbol 'inverted T' represents the number '3' You
The honeybees divided into two groups are put into a Y-shaped maze, one group is shown a symbol before the Y-shaped branch, and the other group is shown the number represented by the number of figures. The After that, the bee has been trained repeatedly to enter the room with the number matching the symbol shown before the branch, or the room with the symbol matching the number, from the two options at the end of the branch. For example, a bee who saw an N-shaped display in front of a branch has a display with an inverted T-shape in a room with a display in which two square or circle figures are written. It's OK if you enter a room.
Sweet sugar water was in the correct combination room, and bitter water seasoned with
After repeating 50 trials, the bee succeeded in correctly combining symbols and numbers with 75% accuracy, which is the first case of successfully combining symbols and numbers in invertebrates. .
Also, after completing the first training, the research team changed the color and shape of the figures representing the numbers and conducted experiments again, but the honeybee continued to succeed in matching the numbers of symbols and figures. .
On the other hand, bees trained to look at the sign to determine the correct number can not judge the correct sign by looking at the number, and trained bees to determine the sign by looking at the number have the sign Could not determine the number to look at. In this regard, research team Scarlett Howard said, 'This result shows that honeybees are both processed in different places, just as symbols and numbers are processed elsewhere in the human brain. It is pointed out that. Also, this study has only investigated the ability to link symbols and numbers, and it is unclear whether honeybees have given quantitative value to the symbols themselves.
by
Associate professor Adrian Dyer of the research team said, 'We think it is natural to remember the number symbol when we were a child, but we have high cognitive ability to understand the meaning that the symbol' 4 'represents 'It has been shown by research that primates and birds can be associated with numbers, but this is the first time that this ability has been confirmed with insects.'
Humans communicate using different languages depending on culture, but the concept of numbers is also referred to as ' universal language ' because it does not depend on the cultural framework. The fact that other animals, including honeybees, can understand the symbol representing the number suggests that the ability to gain an understanding of the number may be a universal ability for many animals, not an inherent ability of humans. Said the research team.
Related Posts:
