Weber’s Law, the Magnitude Effect and Discrimination of Sugar Concentrations
Weber’s Law, the Magnitude Effect and Discrimination of Sugar Concentrations in Nectar-Feeding Animals
Weber’s law quantifies the perception of difference between stimuli. For instance, it can explain why we are less likely to detect the removal of three nuts from a bowl if the bowl is full than if it is nearly empty. This is an example of the magnitude effect – the phenomenon that the subjective perception of a linear difference between a pair of stimuli progressively diminishes when the average magnitude of the stimuli increases.
[h=4]Bumblebee Data[/h]We used data from two-alternative free choice experiments on two B. impatiens colonies containing some electronically tagged bumblebees foraging at an array of computer-automated artificial flowers [24]. In these experiments 10 blue and 10 yellow feeders were used, in a staggered checker-board formation, on a 5×2 array. Rewards were delivered with a probability of about 50% and the sucrose concentrations were in the range of 15 to 50% w/w. Discrimination performance was measured as the asymptotic relative visitation rates to the higher concentration feeders. Data were pooled over three marked individuals and an unknown number of unmarked individuals and analyzed together.
[h=4]Honeybee Data[/h]Reanalyzed data were from a study on the concentration preferences in the Italian honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica) [44]. In these experiments 18 blue and 18 white feeders were used, randomly distributed within a 6×6 square array and the concentrations of the two feeder colors were systematically varied. There were 27 different concentration pairings (7 experiments×4 treatments minus 1 treatment from the first experiment) for which relative visitation rates to the higher concentration feeders for different sets of 3–4 bees over 40 visits per bee per treatment were measured. The mean sucrose concentrations in the seven experiments were from 0.25 to 1.75 M (8.3 to 49% w/w), with differences between the two feeder colors of either 0 M (0% w/w), 0.2 M (6.7% w/w), 0.4 M (13.0% w/w), or 0.6 M (19.1% w/w). Discrimination performance data were extracted from Figures III though IX, Chapter 4 in [44].
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0074144
Weber’s law quantifies the perception of difference between stimuli. For instance, it can explain why we are less likely to detect the removal of three nuts from a bowl if the bowl is full than if it is nearly empty. This is an example of the magnitude effect – the phenomenon that the subjective perception of a linear difference between a pair of stimuli progressively diminishes when the average magnitude of the stimuli increases.
[h=4]Bumblebee Data[/h]We used data from two-alternative free choice experiments on two B. impatiens colonies containing some electronically tagged bumblebees foraging at an array of computer-automated artificial flowers [24]. In these experiments 10 blue and 10 yellow feeders were used, in a staggered checker-board formation, on a 5×2 array. Rewards were delivered with a probability of about 50% and the sucrose concentrations were in the range of 15 to 50% w/w. Discrimination performance was measured as the asymptotic relative visitation rates to the higher concentration feeders. Data were pooled over three marked individuals and an unknown number of unmarked individuals and analyzed together.
[h=4]Honeybee Data[/h]Reanalyzed data were from a study on the concentration preferences in the Italian honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica) [44]. In these experiments 18 blue and 18 white feeders were used, randomly distributed within a 6×6 square array and the concentrations of the two feeder colors were systematically varied. There were 27 different concentration pairings (7 experiments×4 treatments minus 1 treatment from the first experiment) for which relative visitation rates to the higher concentration feeders for different sets of 3–4 bees over 40 visits per bee per treatment were measured. The mean sucrose concentrations in the seven experiments were from 0.25 to 1.75 M (8.3 to 49% w/w), with differences between the two feeder colors of either 0 M (0% w/w), 0.2 M (6.7% w/w), 0.4 M (13.0% w/w), or 0.6 M (19.1% w/w). Discrimination performance data were extracted from Figures III though IX, Chapter 4 in [44].
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0074144
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