Autosomal mutations in Drosophila which reduce operant learning ability.

A collection of Drosophila melanogaster mutants was created by insertion of a P-element into autosomes at a rate of one copy per genome. The abilities of 64 homozygous P-insertion mutants to produce a form of associative behavior were determined. Testing was based on an original paradigm of operant learning: interactions between Drosophila individuals when placed in a group situation in which the flies learned to inhibit their own activity to avoid punishment in the form of conflict with other individuals. Four lines were found in which, like the known learning mutants dunce and rutabaga, individuals did not show changes in their initial responses to each other. These lines were also studied using other paradigms of associative learning.