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Identification of a new contingency-based response in honey bees (Apis mellifera) through revision of the proboscis extension conditioning paradigm

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Abstract

The two experiments reported present new information in the area of classical conditioning experiments with honey bees. Experiment 1 establishes a single unconditioned stimulus (US) technique as a preferred technique for conditioning of the proboscis extension response. Experiment 1 further identifies a new head turn response which occurs when the standard compound US technique is used. Experiment 2 demonstrates that the newly identified head turn response is contingency-based and provides important new response to the repertoire of honey bee learning experiments.

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Buckbee, D.A., Abramson, C.I. Identification of a new contingency-based response in honey bees (Apis mellifera) through revision of the proboscis extension conditioning paradigm. J Insect Behav 10, 479–491 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02765372

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