Label-based expectations affect incentive contrast effects in bumblebees
Label-based expectations affect incentive contrast effects in bumblebees
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DOI：
10.1098/rsbl.2021.0549
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发表时间：
2022-03-09
期刊：
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Muth, Felicity
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hemingway, Claire T.;Muth, Felicity
虽然经典的动物决策模型假设个体评估选项的绝对价值，但数十年的研究表明，奖励往往是相对于最近的经验进行评估的，从而产生激励对比效应。对比效应通常被认为是纯粹的感官，但消费者和实验心理学告诉我们，基于标签的期望可以影响人类和啮齿动物的价值感知。然而，这很少在非模型系统中进行测试。大黄蜂在各种各样的花上觅食，这些花的信号和奖励各不相同，当奖励降低时，它们会表现出对比。我们操纵蜜蜂对刺激质量的期望，然后降低奖励以诱导激励对比。我们发现，对比效应不仅是由经验驱动的更好的奖励，但也受到相关刺激的经验。虽然蜜蜂的最初反应在不同的治疗方法之间没有差异，但当与新刺激配对时，个体更快地接受低质量的奖励。我们探索的边界，这些标签为基础的期望测试蜜蜂沿着刺激梯度，发现期望推广到类似的刺激。这种依赖于参考的评估可能在蜜蜂的觅食选择中发挥重要作用，并有可能影响花的进化和植物群落动态。
While classic models of animal decision-making assume that individuals assess the absolute value of options, decades of research have shown that rewards are often evaluated relative to recent experience, creating incentive contrast effects. Contrast effects are often assumed to be purely sensory, yet consumer and experimental psychology tell us that label-based expectations can affect value perception in humans and rodents. However, this has rarely been tested in non-model systems. Bumblebees forage on a variety of flowers that vary in their signals and rewards and show contrast when rewards are lowered. We manipulated bees' expectations of stimulus quality, before downshifting the reward to induce incentive contrast. We found that contrast effects were not solely driven by experience with a better reward, but also influenced by experience with associated stimuli. While bees' initial response did not differ between treatments, individuals were faster to accept the lower-quality reward when it was paired with a novel stimulus. We explored the boundaries of these label-based expectations by testing bees along a stimulus gradient and found that expectations generalized to similar stimuli. Such reference-dependent evaluations may play an important role in bees' foraging choices, with the potential to impact floral evolution and plant community dynamics.