Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Introducing Social Perception

Introducing Social Perception

Perceiving others accurately is fundamental to effective communication and relationship-building. Social perception, a key concept in social psychology, refers to the cognitive processes through which individuals gather and interpret information about others to understand their actions, intentions, and motivations. This process extends beyond spoken words and overt behaviors, incorporating subtle nonverbal cues and contextual factors.Nonverbal Cues and Their SignificanceNonverbal cues play a...

Visual Agnosia

Visual Agnosia

Visual agnosia is a condition characterized by the inability to recognize visually presented objects despite having normal vision. For instance, a person with visual agnosia can describe the shape and color of an object but cannot identify or name it. This impairment does not affect their visual field, acuity, color vision, brightness discrimination, language, or memory. An example of this condition in a social setting is someone at a dinner party asking for "that silver thing with a round end"...

Vision

Vision

Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.

Visual System

Visual System

Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...

Causes of Social Behavior II: Cognitive Processes

Causes of Social Behavior II: Cognitive Processes

Cognitive processes affect social behavior by guiding how individuals perceive, interpret, and respond to social stimuli. These mental processes enable individuals to assess others' behaviors, attribute causes to their actions, and form expectations based on past experiences.Causes of Behavior and Social JudgmentsIndividuals determine the causes of others' behaviors by distinguishing between personal traits and external circumstances. For example, if a friend frequently arrives late, an...

Nonconscious Mimicry

Nonconscious Mimicry

Nonconscious mimicry occurs when individuals alter their mannerisms to match the behaviors and expressions of those nearby, without intention.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Attention, awareness and flexibility in honeybees: divergent effects of distraction on delay versus trace reversal learning.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2026

Same author

Stimuli that fit: a biology-aligned approach to numerical cognition research.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2026

Same author

Emotional contagion of positive mood in insects.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition·2026

Same author

Visual learning performance in free-flying honey bees is independent of sucrose and light responsiveness and depends on training context.

Scientific reports·2026

Same author

Serotonergic-dependent awareness is required for trace conditioning in honeybees.

iScience·2025

Same author

Statistical olfactory learning in honey bees.

iScience·2025

Same journal

Introduction.

Annual review of entomology·2026

Same journal

<i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>: A Model System for Accelerating Studies on <i>Bacillus thuringiensis</i> Infection in Insects.

Annual review of entomology·2026

Same journal

Complex Behaviors in Termites: Mechanisms and Evolution.

Annual review of entomology·2026

Same journal

The Diverse and Intricate Interactions Between Flies and Amphibians: A Systematic Review of Their Host-Use Patterns and Strategies.

Annual review of entomology·2025

Same journal

Tick-Borne Diseases in Urban and Periurban Areas: A Blind Spot in Research and Public Health.

Annual review of entomology·2025

Same journal

Effects of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products on Insects.

Annual review of entomology·2025

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Techniques for Investigating the Anatomy of the Ant Visual System

Techniques for Investigating the Anatomy of the Ant Visual System

Published on: November 27, 2017

Visual cognition in social insects.

Aurore Avarguès-Weber¹, Nina Deisig, Martin Giurfa

¹Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Université de Toulouse, F-31062 Toulouse Cedex 9, France.

Annual Review of Entomology

|September 28, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Social insects demonstrate complex visual learning, including categorization and rule extraction, challenging previous assumptions about cognitive abilities in small-brained animals. This review explores their sophisticated visual processing and learning capabilities.

More Related Videos

Visual Classical Conditioning in Wood Ants

Visual Classical Conditioning in Wood Ants

Published on: October 5, 2018

Integrating Visual Psychophysical Assays within a Y-Maze to Isolate the Role that Visual Features Play in Navigational Decisions

Integrating Visual Psychophysical Assays within a Y-Maze to Isolate the Role that Visual Features Play in Navigational Decisions

Published on: May 2, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Techniques for Investigating the Anatomy of the Ant Visual System

Techniques for Investigating the Anatomy of the Ant Visual System

Published on: November 27, 2017

Visual Classical Conditioning in Wood Ants

Visual Classical Conditioning in Wood Ants

Published on: October 5, 2018

Integrating Visual Psychophysical Assays within a Y-Maze to Isolate the Role that Visual Features Play in Navigational Decisions

Integrating Visual Psychophysical Assays within a Y-Maze to Isolate the Role that Visual Features Play in Navigational Decisions

Published on: May 2, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Animal Behavior
Cognitive Science

Background:

Visual learning encompasses simple associations to complex cognitive tasks.
Historically, complex visual learning was studied in vertebrates, while simple learning was focused on insects.
Recent research reveals sophisticated visual learning in social insects.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the spectrum of visual learning forms in social insects.
To analyze the role of simple associations in complex visual learning in Hymenoptera.
To discuss potential neural mechanisms for these visual performances.

Main Methods:

Literature review of studies on visual learning in social insects.
Analysis of cognitive tasks including color/pattern learning, attention, recognition, discrimination, categorization, and rule extraction.
Examination of the necessity and sufficiency of associative learning.

Main Results:

Social insects exhibit a wide range of advanced visual learning abilities.
Tasks include object recognition, category learning, and rule extraction.
Simple associations may underpin complex visual learning in Hymenoptera.

Conclusions:

Social insects possess sophisticated visual learning capabilities.
Their cognitive abilities challenge traditional brain-size-based distinctions.
Further research into neural mechanisms is warranted.