[Autosomal mutations in drosophila interfering in the capacity for operant learning].

Collection of autosomal P-insertional mutant stocks with single P-element per genome was created in Drosophila melanogaster. The learning ability was tested in 64 homozygous P-inserts using the original paradigm of self-starting operant learning in a group situation. Normal flies placed in a group situation learned to suppress their activity to avoid punishment. The learning-deficient mutants failed to change adaptively their initial locomotor response to presence of other individuals. The ability to learn in other paradigms of the associative learning is now being investigated in these mutant stocks.