Common Goldfish Place In A Maze Essay

Introduction

Research Question: Do common goldfish demonstrate cognitive memory, when placed in a maze? Researched by placing the goldfish in a maze, testing them over a period of time, and seeing whether the time taken for the fish to navigate the maze decreases.

It has been said that goldfish only have a three second memory span. Is this myth true?

I believe that a goldfish’s memory span is much longer than three seconds, and I believe that they have the ability to remember complex tasks. From growing up in the Bahamas, life was and is circulated around the water. From growing up in the water you are able to notice patterns in natural fish behaviour. When spearfishing you can notice that fish automatically dart into holes for protection. When fish such as the Nassau grouper travel miles to breed, and then return to the exact reef that they left, that cannot be trial and error. From having goldfish from a young age, I was able to notice patterns in their behaviour too, which demonstrated that they could remember, for example the sound of the flake food container would cause them to come to the surface of the water for food. The common goldfish Carassius auratus, has the same external anatomy as all fish. The lateral line is extremely sensitive to the fish’s surrounding environment and can

It is evident that goldfish have memory, they remember that when you come near the tank, it means food is coming so they come to the top of the water for the food. I knew that this question would carry the essay in the direction that I did not want. I changed it to incorporate the use of cognitive memory, which involves the storing of memory and then being able to recall it when it is needed. (Gibson, K., & Hanson, K. 2007) The use of the memory could be short term, or it could be long term, will the goldfish remember the task after a long time of no