The present work provides new insights into the behavior of air bubbles in non-Newtonian fluids. The interactions and coalescence between bubbles rising in non-Newtonian fluids were simultaneously investigated by means of birefringence measurements and particle image velocimetry for a chain of bubbles formed from a submerged orifice. Two aspects are identified for the first time as central to interactions and coalescence: (i) the stress creation by the passage of bubbles, and (ii) their relaxation due to the fluid's memory. This competition displays complex nonlinear dynamics, from periodic phenomena to deterministic chaos. From these fundamental mechanisms, a cognitive model based on behavioral rules has been developed to describe collective behaviors of a group of bubbles. By simulating bubbles as adaptive agents with their fluid via residual stresses, model predictions for consecutive coalescence between a great number of bubbles compare very satisfactorily with the experimental investigation.