Biosciences Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Henry Wellcome Building, Framlington Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
J Biosci. 2024;49.
Bees have been excellent model systems to study social learning - the ability of animals to change their behaviour based on observations of other individuals. Researchers have investigated several aspects of social learning in bees, including how it can lead to cultural traditions. A recent study also argues that bees have the capacity to socially learn behaviours that they could not innovate on their own. To understand these findings better, I review what we know about the mechanisms underlying social learning in bees and use these findings to compare social learning and culture in bees and humans. The findings suggest that the seemingly complex social behaviours of bees could arise from simple mechanisms underlying learning in general. I highlight the importance of investigating cognitive mechanisms and how they might differ across animals.
蜜蜂一直是研究社会学习的优秀模式系统——动物根据观察其他个体来改变自身行为的能力。研究人员已经研究了蜜蜂社会学习的几个方面，包括它如何导致文化传统。最近的一项研究还认为，蜜蜂有能力通过社会学习来获得它们自己无法创新的行为。为了更好地理解这些发现，我回顾了我们对蜜蜂社会学习背后机制的了解，并利用这些发现来比较蜜蜂和人类的社会学习和文化。研究结果表明，蜜蜂看似复杂的社会行为可能源于一般学习的简单机制。我强调了研究认知机制及其在不同动物中可能存在差异的重要性。
