Exploring cognition with multiple rewards: A new dimension into the cognitive ecology of pollination

动物使用来自环境的多条信息来做出决策，例如在哪里寻找食物，或者哪个选项是最佳选择。传统上，动物如何学习可用的选项一直被研究与单一奖励（如特定的食物）有关。然而，包括人类在内的动物经常不得不做出各种奖励的决定。这项研究将确定动物如何做出这些更复杂的决定。要做到这一点，大黄蜂将被使用：这些蜜蜂访问各种各样的花卉类型，并在这样做的过程中学习访问最有价值的。大多数研究都集中在蜜蜂如何根据花朵（花蜜）的单一奖励进行学习和决策，尽管蜜蜂收集多种类型的奖励（最常见的是花蜜和花粉）。这项研究将增加我们对大黄蜂觅食的了解，考虑到最近蜜蜂的减少，这一点特别及时。它还将更广泛地告知我们对包括人类在内的动物如何做出复杂决策的理解。该补助金将支持一名博士后研究人员，一名研究生和本科生研究人员。这项研究将在国家和国际会议上介绍，并通过一些外联活动向公众介绍。最后，每年有1-2名高中生将与研究生一起从事研究项目，目的是鼓励来自不同背景的学生从事科学事业。 该项目将解决多重奖励如何影响认知（学习，记忆和决策），在三个目标。1)它将通过建立单一与多重奖励（花蜜和花粉）如何影响刺激的学习效果以及强化的时机来确定学习如何受到多重奖励的影响。2)通过解决蜜蜂如何在花蜜和花粉质量不同的花朵之间做出决定，将确定动物如何在具有多种奖励的选项之间做出决定。为此目的，还将确定是否使用绝对或比较判断。3)通过解决学习和记忆时的动机状态是否影响奖励或刺激质量的记忆，将确定蜜蜂的动机状态如何影响它们对具有多种奖励的花的记忆。所有的目标都将通过实验室和温室的人工花卉和商业大黄蜂殖民地的实验来实现。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为是值得支持的。

Animals use multiple pieces of information from their environments to make decisions such as where to search for food, or which option is the best choice. How animals learn about available options has traditionally been studied in relation to a single reward (such as a particular food item). However, animals including humans often have to make decisions that vary in multiple types of reward. The research from this grant will determine how animals make these more complex types of decisions. To do this, bumblebees will be used: these bees visit a wide variety of flower types and in doing so learn to visit the most highly rewarding ones. The majority of research has focused on how bees learn and make decisions based on a single reward from flowers (nectar), despite the fact that bees collect multiple types of reward (the most common being nectar and pollen). This research will increase our knowledge of bumblebee foraging, which is particularly timely given recent bee declines. It will also more broadly inform our understanding of how animals, including humans, make complex decisions. The grant will support a postdoctoral researcher, a graduate student and undergraduate researchers. The research will be presented at national and international conferences, as well as to the public through a number of outreach events. Finally, 1-2 high school students per year will work alongside graduate students on research projects, with the aim of encouraging students from diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in science. This project will address how multiple rewards affect cognition (learning, memory and decision-making), in three objectives. 1) It will be determined how learning is affected by multiple rewards through establishing how single vs. multiple rewards (nectar and pollen) affect how well a stimulus is learned, and the timing of reinforcement. 2) It will be determined how animals make decisions when choosing between options with multiple rewards, through addressing how bees make decisions between flowers that vary in nectar and pollen quality. For this objective it will also be determined whether absolute or comparative judgement is used. 3) It will be determined how bees’ motivational state affects their memory of flowers with multiple rewards, by addressing whether motivational state when learning and remembering affects memory of reward or stimulus quality. All objectives will be carried out using lab- and greenhouse-based experiments with artificial flowers and commercial bumblebee colonies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.