Operant Rodent Manipulanda Applied with Goldfish1

Abstract Goldfish (Carassius auratus) represent an alternative to using rodents for a psychology learning course. One difficulty, however, in using goldfish as subjects is that of suitable equipment. The present paper investigated the extent to which operant manipulanda designed for rodents could be used with goldfish. Attempts were made to shape the responses of goldfish to an omnidirectional ceiling rod as a manipulandum using a reinforcer pellet intended for mice, which was not successful. A previously described goldfish reinforcer was used successfully to shape a response by two goldfish, maintained by continuous reinforcement to obtain a low but consistent response rate over several sessions. Difficulties associated with the reinforcer as well as the rodent manipulandum appear to limit their utility in a novel application such as the one presented here.