Training Goldfish

Posted by Shari Horowitz in Tropical Fish Hobbyist Blog on October 31, 2011 at 7:58 am

Many of us have heard about how goldfish can be trained to perform tricks–in fact, there are even kits sold to teach a goldfish to dunk a basketball through a hoop or score a soccer goal. These trained goldfish are great for debunking the myth that goldfish only have a 3 second memory and therefore can never be bored in a small bowl.

Assistant Professor Caroline DeLong of the Rochester Institute of Technology has demonstrated that goldfish are even more intelligent than previously thought. Along with her students, DeLong taught goldfish to recognize a shape (a black circle) on the side of the tank and touch it with their mouths in order to get food. She then showed the goldfish would continue to identify the circle, even when other shapes, such as a black rectangle, were present. DeLong plans to continue her research to see if goldfish will still recognize the circle even if the circumstances surrounding it, such as its position, are changed.

Source: http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=69408512710

Photo Credit: underwatertimes.com