STANDARDS

NGSS: Core Idea: LS1.A, LS3.A, LS3.B

CCSS: Reading Informational Text: 7

TEKS: 6.5D, 7.5D, 8.5D, 8.13B, B.7C, B.7D

Investigate It!

Watch and Learn

A buzz-worthy new study finds that bees can learn complex tasks by observing each other

© STÉPHANE VITZTHUM/BIOSPHOTO

AS YOU READ, THINK ABOUT skills you’ve learned by watching other people.

Have you ever viewed a tutorial to learn a video game trick, get homework help, or see how a DIY craft is done? People often pick up new skills by observing others. Beginner cooks learn techniques by watching experienced chefs. Young children who see others with a toy often play with it in the same way when it’s their turn. Gaining skills by observing and imitating others is called social learning.

For a long time, social learning was thought to occur only in humans. But in recent decades, scientists have documented other animals, including mammals and birds, learning this way (see Animal Students). Now, for the first time, scientists have observed social learning in an invertebrate—an animal without a backbone. A new investigation by researchers in the United Kingdom has shown that bumblebees can learn some impressive puzzle-solving skills from one another.

How can you learn a video game trick, get homework help, or see how to do a DIY craft? You might watch a tutorial. People often pick up new skills by watching others. Beginner cooks learn by watching experienced chefs. Young children see others with a toy. When it’s their turn, they often play with it in the same way. We observe and imitate others to gain skills. This is called social learning.

Does social learning occur only in humans? For a long time, scientists thought so. But in recent decades, they’ve seen it in other animals, like mammals and birds (see Animal Students). Now scientists have observed social learning in an invertebrate for the first time. That’s an animal without a backbone. Researchers in the United Kingdom conducted a new study. It shows that bumblebees can learn some impressive puzzle-solving skills from one another.

STEP BY STEP

COURTESY OF ALICE BRIDGES

BEE SCIENTIST: Alice Bridges studies learning in insects.

Imagine handing a cell phone to a person who’d never seen one before and had no knowledge of writing—and asking them to send a text message. Without the necessary background knowledge, the task would be impossible, no matter how smart the person was. “There’s just no way they could do it unless someone showed them how,” says Alice Bridges. She’s a cognitive scientist, a researcher who studies thinking and learning, at the University of Sheffield. Her example shows why social learning is so important. It allows people to gain knowledge and skills too complex for an individual to figure out on their own.

Bridges and her team wanted to find out whether bumblebees could also learn this way. First, Bridges had to design a suitable task to test the animals. It needed to be simple enough for a bee to learn by watching—but complicated enough that it was unlikely any bee could figure out the task by itself. The scientists designed a puzzle box containing tasty sugar water. They wanted to see if bees could work out how to open it to get the reward inside. The box had two doors that bees had to push out of the way. The first door blocked the second. To open the box, a bee had to push both doors in the right order. That allowed it to access the sugary treat (see The Buzz on the Puzzle).

Bridges knew from previous experiments that bees could independently figure out how to push one door for a reward. So the researchers wanted to make sure bees couldn’t figure out the two-step puzzle on their own. The team placed a double-door box in an enclosure with a bumblebee colony for 24 days. Not a single bee solved the puzzle. “It was very stark how difficult this was for them,” says Bridges. Would things be different if a “teacher” showed them what to do?

To find out, the researchers trained a group of demonstrator bees to perform the two-step task. The scientists did this by offering two separate rewards—one for each door. Then they gradually got rid of the reward for the first door. “The bees hated that!” says Bridges. “When they stopped getting that reward, some threw a bit of a tantrum and didn’t want to participate anymore.” But eventually, some of the bees realized they had to push the first door and then the second to get the single reward at the end.

Next the researchers paired the trained bees with ones that had never seen the puzzle box. The scientists allowed the pairs to explore the box together repeatedly so the new bees could see the demonstrators solve it. Finally, the untrained bees got a chance to try the puzzle on their own. About one-third of them succeeded: They’d learned how to solve the challenging puzzle just by watching.

Picture this: You hand a cell phone to someone and ask them to send a text message. But that person has never seen a cell phone and has no knowledge of writing. They don’t have the background knowledge they need. So the task would be impossible, no matter how smart the person is. “There’s just no way they could do it unless someone showed them how,” says Alice Bridges. She’s a cognitive scientist at the University of Sheffield, and she studies thinking and learning. Her example shows why social learning is so important. It allows people to gain complex knowledge and skills that they couldn’t figure out alone.

Could bumblebees also learn this way? Bridges and her team wanted to find out. First, Bridges had to design the right task to test the bugs. It needed to be simple enough for a bee to learn by watching. But it had to be too difficult for a bee to figure out alone. The scientists designed a puzzle box. It contained tasty sugar water. They wanted to see if bees could figure out the puzzle to get the reward inside. The box had two doors. Bees had to push them out of the way. The first door blocked the second. To open the box, a bee had to push both doors in the right order. Then it could get the sugary treat (see The Buzz on the Puzzle).

Bridges had done experiments with bees before. She knew they could figure out how to push one door for a reward. The researchers didn’t think bees could figure out the two-step puzzle on their own. But they wanted to make sure. The team placed a double-door box in an enclosure with a bumblebee colony for 24 days. No bee solved the puzzle. “It was very stark how difficult this was for them,” says Bridges. What if a “teacher” showed them what to do? Would things be different?

To find out, the researchers trained a group of demonstrator bees. The scientists taught them to perform the two-step task by offering two separate rewards. Bees got one reward for each door. Then the scientists got rid of the reward for the first door, little by little. “The bees hated that!” says Bridges. “When they stopped getting that reward, some threw a bit of a tantrum and didn’t want to participate anymore.” But over time, some of the bees figured it out. They pushed the first door and then the second to get the single reward at the end.

Next the researchers put bees in pairs. Trained bees were paired with ones that had never seen the puzzle box. Over and over, the scientists allowed the pairs to explore the box together. The new bees saw the demonstrators solve it. Finally, the untrained bees got to try the puzzle alone. About one-third of them succeeded. They’d learned to solve the challenging puzzle just by watching.

BUG SOCIETIES

These findings hint that it’s possible for bugs to learn complex knowledge and behaviors and maybe even pass them down through generations—much like people do. “We knew right away that what we’d found would change how a lot of people view insects—and maybe even how we see ourselves,” says Bridges.

Scientists have already documented impressive feats among bees and other social insects that live together in large colonies. “Social insects have some of the craziest and most interesting behaviors,” says Bridges. Some, like ants, grow fungi underground for food—basically a type of farming. Others, like termites, construct massive nests with elaborate architecture and sophisticated ventilation systems. And honeybees communicate using a language of expressive dance so detailed it can tell other bees the exact location of food.

“If we found a group of chimpanzees with these behaviors, we wouldn’t hesitate to describe them as an advanced animal civilization,” says Bridges. “But because we’re seeing them in insects, whose brains are tiny compared to ours, we don’t usually talk about them that way.”

In the past, many scientists thought most insect behavior was based on instinct—actions an animal performs naturally without needing to learn how. “Today we know that’s not true,” says Bridges. “They can learn really cool things from each other.” Even though they’re tiny, insects still have a lot to teach us.

These findings hint that bugs may be able to learn complex knowledge and behaviors. Maybe they can even pass them down through generations, much like people do. “We knew right away that what we’d found would change how a lot of people view insects—and maybe even how we see ourselves,” says Bridges.

Scientists have already observed impressive feats among bees and other social insects. These insects live together in large colonies. “Social insects have some of the craziest and most interesting behaviors,” says Bridges. Some, like ants, grow fungi underground for food. It’s a type of farming. Others, like termites, build massive nests. They include complex architecture and ventilation systems. And honeybees communicate with a detailed language of expressive dance. It can tell other bees the exact location of food.

“If we found a group of chimpanzees with these behaviors, we wouldn’t hesitate to describe them as an advanced animal civilization,” says Bridges. “But because we’re seeing them in insects, whose brains are tiny compared to ours, we don’t usually talk about them that way.”

In the past, many scientists thought that acted mostly on instinct. That’s something animal performs these actions naturally, without needing to learn how. “Today we know that’s not true,” says Bridges. “They can learn really cool things from each other.” Insects may be tiny, but they still have a lot to teach us.

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