A Classical Conditioning Technique for Small Aquatic Animals

Classical conditioning of goldfish in the shuttlebox

“…Although unanticipated, the result is not difficult to understand. When a goldfish confined in a small compartment is subjected to paired stimulation with light and shock, the light comes increasingly to activate the animal (Horner, Longo, & Bitterman, 1960), and it seems reasonable to assume that the same process operates in the shuttlebox: activated by the CS, the animal is more likely to swim across the hurdle. It has, in fact, been demonstrated that certain quantitative features of the shuttlebox performance of goldfish can be deduced directly from measurements of conditioned activation (Bitterman, 1965 ).…”

Latent inhibition experiments with goldfish (Carassius auratus).

“…Apparatus. The apparatus used in this experiment was designed to study the classical conditioning of general activity in fishes (Homer, Longo, & Bitterman, 1960). Situated in a large sound-attenuating enclosure, it consisted of six small Plexiglas compartments (12.7 x 7.6 X 17.5 cm) through which fresh filtered water flowed continuously.…”

Conditioned Withdrawal in Goldfish: A Simple and Inexpensive Preparation for the Study of Classical Fear Conditioning in Vertebrates

“…Having demonstrated excitatory conditioning in the first two experiments, the present study was conducted to see if extinction could be produced in this preparation, as well. extinction, which refers to the decrease in conditioned responding that occurs when a CS is repeatedly presented alone following CSUS training, has previously been observed in goldfish with other fear conditioning preparations (e.g., Horner, Longo, & Bitterman, 1960;Gonzalez, Longo, & Bitterman, 1961;Geller, 1964;Berger, et al, 1965;Breuning & Wolach, 1981).…”

“…On Day 2, fish were placed in the clear conditioning box, and their general activity assessed. Stimuli associated with shock have been shown previously to elicit an increase in general activity in goldfish (e.g., Horner, et al, 1960;Shishimi, 1985;Drew, et al, 2005). Therefore, if fish associate the shock with the particular box in which it is presented, those shocked in the clear box (Group Context) should be more active than those shocked in the black box (Group Control).…”

“…Excitatory conditioning is said to occur whenever an organism learns that a CS signals the subsequent occurrence of a uS. evidence of excitatory fear conditioning in goldfish has been obtained previously using a variety of conditioned responses, such as respiration (e.g., Breuning & Wolach, 1981;Xu, 1997) and heart rate (e.g., Yoshida, Okamura, & Uematsu, 2004;Yoshida, Hirano, & Shima, 2009;Yoshida & Hirano, 2010), shuttling (Shishimi, 1985), suppression of leverpressing for food (Geller, 1964), and general activity (e.g., Horner, Longo, & Bitterman, 1960;Berger, Yarczower, & Bitterman, 1965;Shishimi, 1985;Drew, et al, 2005). The present experiment was conducted to see if the classical conditioning preparation presented here could be used to demonstrate excitatory fear conditioning to a conventional CS.…”