Question 19M.3.HL.TZ2.5b.ii
| Date | May 2019 | Marks available | [Maximum mark: 1] | Reference code | 19M.3.HL.TZ2.5b.ii |
| Level | HL | Paper | 3 | Time zone | TZ2 |
| Command term | Suggest | Question number | b.ii | Adapted from | N/A |
An investigation was carried out to examine whether honeybees (Apis mellifera) can learn “rules” to deal with complex tasks and then apply them to new situations. To train bees, they were rewarded each time they followed a cue to make a correct turn at the start of a training maze. They were then allowed to find their way through the entire training maze.
This was followed by attempts to navigate two unfamiliar mazes (maze 1 and maze 2) to see whether the bees could apply the rules to follow a path through different mazes. Untrained control bees were also put into mazes. Only one bee was tested in each maze at a time.
The bees were classified according to how successful they were in making their way through each maze. The results are shown in the bar chart.
[Source: reprinted from Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 72, S.W. Zhang et al, Honeybee Memory: Navigation by
Associative Grouping and Recall of Visual Stimuli, 180–201, Copyright 1999, with permission from Elsevier]
Suggest an advantage of such behaviour.
[1]
a. return to flowers with nectar
OR
«more chance» to obtain food ✔
b. increases chances of survival «if they can learn directions to and from food» ✔
Most did well on evaluating the data, but it was more difficult for some to suggest an advantage of the behaviour and apply it to the bees.
