DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Modulation of Active Learning Behavior in the Context of Foraging

论文研究：觅食背景下主动学习行为的调节

• 批准号: 0206636
• 负责人: Fred Dyer
• 金额: $ 0.65万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-04-15 至 2004-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0206636&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Modulation; Active; Learning

Modulation of active learning behavior in the context of foragingFred C. Dyer, Principal Investigator, Professor of ZoologyCynthia A. Wei, Doctoral Candidate in ZoologyAbstract Honeybees possess the remarkable ability to repeatedly return to specific flower patches that they have discovered. Essential to this ability is a behavior known as a learning flight. These flights, which are performed upon departure from a food source, allow a bee to collect visual information about landmarks nearby the food, which then help the bee find her way back. The performance of these flights is a modulated behavior; bees typically perform longer flights during the first few visits, and in subsequent visits, the durations of the flights decline. This raises a fundamental question: How do bees determine when and for how long to perform these flights? Answers to this question will provide greater understanding of learning as an active decision making process. The dissertation work of Cynthia Wei, under the guidance of Fred Dyer, has so far documented precise ways in which various factors influence the modulation of learning flight duration. The work supported by this award will expand upon these prior findings by studying the modulation of learning flight duration in a more natural foraging context. The specific goals are 1) to characterize the occurrence of learning flights in response to a change in nectar quality availability in a natural flower patch, 2) to determine the influence of nectar volume and concentration on the induction of learning flights, and 3) to determine the effect of observed occurrences of learning flights on subsequent spatial patterns of foraging. This research will further illuminate the processes by which animals make decisions to learn in response to changing needs for spatial information. It will also lead to a better understanding of how learning affects changes in spatial foraging patterns and the resulting implications for foraging success. Collectively, this work will help develop a clearer picture of how mechanisms of learning have been shaped by an animal's foraging ecology.

在觅食的背景下主动学习行为的调节。Dyer，首席研究员，动物学教授Cynthia A.魏，动物学博士生摘要蜜蜂具有重复返回它们发现的特定花地的非凡能力。 这种能力的关键是一种被称为学习飞行的行为。 这些飞行是在离开食物源时进行的，允许蜜蜂收集关于食物附近地标的视觉信息，然后帮助蜜蜂找到回去的路。 这些飞行的表现是一种调制的行为;蜜蜂通常在最初的几次访问中进行更长的飞行，在随后的访问中，飞行的持续时间下降。 这就提出了一个基本问题：蜜蜂如何决定何时以及多长时间进行这些飞行？ 这个问题的答案将提供学习作为一个积极的决策过程更好的理解。 在弗雷德·戴尔（Fred Dyer）的指导下，辛西娅·魏（Cynthia Wei）的论文工作迄今为止已经记录了各种因素影响学习飞行持续时间调节的精确方式。 该奖项支持的工作将通过研究在更自然的觅食环境中学习飞行持续时间的调制来扩展这些先前的发现。 具体目标是：1）描述学习飞行的发生，以响应天然花斑中花蜜质量可用性的变化，2）确定花蜜量和浓度对学习飞行诱导的影响，以及3）确定观察到的学习飞行发生对随后的觅食空间模式的影响。 这项研究将进一步阐明动物在应对空间信息需求变化时做出学习决策的过程。 它还将使人们更好地了解学习如何影响空间觅食模式的变化以及对觅食成功的影响。 总的来说，这项工作将有助于更清楚地了解动物的觅食生态如何塑造学习机制。