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Teen scientist disproves goldfish memory myth
Filed under: Teens, In The News, Weird But True
I am not an expert on pet fish, but apparently goldfish are thought to have extremely short memory spans. Like three seconds short. Because of this, swimming around and around in a tiny bowl day after day is not a problem for them. At least that was the common wisdom among those who know about such things until 15-year-old Rory Stokes decided to prove that theory wrong. Stokes is a student at the Australian Science and Mathematics School in Adelaide and he thinks keeping fish in small tanks is cruel and his groundbreaking research into goldfish memory spans would seem to back that up.
His experiment involved putting a beacon of light into the water and then waiting 30 seconds before sprinkling in some food. At first, the fish took more than a minute to swim to the beacon. But by the end of three weeks, the fish were responding to the beacon and swimming over for food in less than five seconds. He then quit using the beacon at feeding time for six days. After that period, he reintroduced the beacon and the fish swam to it in 4.4 seconds, proving that they remembered the association between the beacon and being fed.
"We are told that a goldfish has a memory span of less than three seconds and that no matter how small its tank is, it will always discover new places and objects," Stokes says. "My results strongly showed that goldfish can retain knowledge for at least six days." Interesting stuff and pretty impressive for a teen-aged scientist.
via Hoovaloo
His experiment involved putting a beacon of light into the water and then waiting 30 seconds before sprinkling in some food. At first, the fish took more than a minute to swim to the beacon. But by the end of three weeks, the fish were responding to the beacon and swimming over for food in less than five seconds. He then quit using the beacon at feeding time for six days. After that period, he reintroduced the beacon and the fish swam to it in 4.4 seconds, proving that they remembered the association between the beacon and being fed.
"We are told that a goldfish has a memory span of less than three seconds and that no matter how small its tank is, it will always discover new places and objects," Stokes says. "My results strongly showed that goldfish can retain knowledge for at least six days." Interesting stuff and pretty impressive for a teen-aged scientist.
via Hoovaloo
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
2-19-2008 @ 10:39AM
Mel said...This kid is attributing his results to memory, when in fact it is attributable to Pavlovlian conditioning.
Reply
2-19-2008 @ 11:03AM
Heather said...But if they had no memory they would have forgotten after a certain length of time. Training is a form of memory, with out memory they would remember the light brought food just like Pavlovs dogs wouldn't remember the bell brought food.
Reply
2-19-2008 @ 3:14PM
isisaquaria said...Pavlov's dogs were trained with a bell because they had the capacity to remember. Same idea--kudos to the kid for the research--while I personally do not care about the goldfish, it shows potential for future endeavors.
Reply
2-19-2008 @ 9:00PM
AngelaFay said...This isn't a new theory as any of us kids who tapped on the side of the bowl, then fed, could tell you. I actually agree that keeping fish (birds/varments) in small containers is cruel and I hope his well published findings sway some future pet owners. (In retrospect I'm sure that the tapping stressed the fish out as well.)
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2-20-2008 @ 8:25AM
Uly said...Everybody I know with goldfish agrees that they're fairly intelligent fish, which makes sense considering their long lifespan - in the range of decades. (For example, the ones at our local Mongolian BBQ routinely swim frantically to the far end of a tank when a child walks by - they don't seem to like their home being banged on.) That's one reason they should not be kept in a tiny bowl, another being, of course, that goldfish kept in a small bowl don't live very long. They need a proper tank, with filtration and so on.
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3-10-2008 @ 10:17PM
marie said...I discovered this myself 35 years ago. I had 2 goldfish in a bowl on a table right next to a lamp. The first thing I did in the morning was turn on the lamp and feed the fish, just so I wouldn't forget to feed them later. Everytime that lamp was turned on, the fish went right to top of the bowl looking for food. I'm sure lots of people have noticed similar behavior.
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