• Login
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    How memory changes with time: From bees to humans 
    •   QMRO Home
    • Queen Mary University of London Theses
    • Theses
    • How memory changes with time: From bees to humans
    •   QMRO Home
    • Queen Mary University of London Theses
    • Theses
    • How memory changes with time: From bees to humans
    ‌
    ‌

    Browse

    All of QMROCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects
    ‌
    ‌

    Administrators only

    Login
    ‌
    ‌

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    How memory changes with time: From bees to humans

    View/Open
    Hunt_KL_PhD_final_250414.pdf (1.712Mb)
    Publisher
    Queen Mary University of London
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Memory is crucial for guiding animals as to where, when and on what to forage, whom to mate with and how to detect and evade predators. The contents of memory can change over time; either passively, where details are forgotten, or by reactivating and consolidating memories, in which previously stored and new information effect the final memory. In humans the fallibility of memory is well studied, with many errors known to effect declarative memory. However, little is known about the potential occurrence of such memory errors in non-human animals. In this thesis I investigate how memory changes over time using key model organisms of memory; the bumblebee and the honeybee. Additionally, I explore errors in human memory. In Chapter two I explore memory degradation for colour patterns over time in bumblebees. I find no difference in memory decay if patterns are symmetrical around a vertical axis (an arrangement innately preferred) or not. However, not all information is forgotten over time: information about the colour contained in the pattern is retained, whilst the details of the overall configuration of the target flower are lost. In Chapter three I show for the first time in a non-human animal ‘merging’ of long-term memories. Bumblebees trained to two artificial flower types show a preference for a previously unseen hybrid of the two. This is similar to the memory conjunction error shown by humans. In Chapter four I find no biasing effect of postevent cues, akin to the misinformation effect in humans, in either bumblebees or honeybees. However I note the methodological difficulties in examining this type of memory error in an insect model. Finally, in Chapter five I look at a known error in human memory and show how semantic false memories may be an inevitable by-product of the adaptive cognitive process of categorisation.
    Authors
    Hunt, Kathryn Louise
    URI
    http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/11581
    Collections
    • Theses [3711]
    Copyright statements
    The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author
    Twitter iconFollow QMUL on Twitter
    Twitter iconFollow QM Research
    Online on twitter
    Facebook iconLike us on Facebook
    • Site Map
    • Privacy and cookies
    • Disclaimer
    • Accessibility
    • Contacts
    • Intranet
    • Current students

    Modern Slavery Statement

    Queen Mary University of London
    Mile End Road
    London E1 4NS
    Tel: +44 (0)20 7882 5555

    © Queen Mary University of London.