“Two, four, six, eight; bog in, don’t wait”.
As children, we learn numbers can either be even or odd. And there are many ways to categorise numbers as even or odd.
We may memorise the rule that numbers ending in 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9 are odd while numbers ending in 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8 are even. Or we may divide a number by 2 – where any whole number outcome means the number is even, otherwise it must be odd.
Similarly, when dealing with real-world objects we can use pairing. If we have an unpaired element left over, that means the number of objects was odd.
Analysis of the world, from experts
Until now odd and even categorisation, also called parity classification, had never been shown in non-human animals. In a new study, published today in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, we show honeybees can learn to do this.
Why is parity categorisation special?
Parity tasks (such as odd and even categorisation) are considered abstract and high-level numerical concepts in humans.
Interestingly, humans demonstrate accuracy, speed, language and […]
I love my bees and always feed them by keeping flowers around my property so they will live well, and they do and are all over and varied in species.