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Resistance to change in goldfish
Takeharu Igaki1, Takayuki Sakagami
1Department of Psychology, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan. igaki@psy.flet.keio.ac.jp
Behavioural Processes
|April 28, 2004
Summary
This study investigated resistance to change in goldfish, finding that higher reinforcement rates and added food delivery increased this behavior. These results confirm that resistance to change is a general phenomenon across diverse species.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Psychology
- Comparative Cognition
Background:
- Resistance to change is a well-documented phenomenon in species like humans, rats, and pigeons.
- Understanding this behavior in phylogenetically simpler species can illuminate its fundamental mechanisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the generality of resistance to change findings in goldfish (Carassius auratus), a phylogenetically primitive species.
- To investigate how varying reinforcement rates and response-independent food delivery influence resistance to change in goldfish.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted using five goldfish trained on two-component multiple schedules.
- Experiment 1 manipulated reinforcement rates between components; Experiment 2 added response-independent food delivery to one component.
- Disruption was induced via free food or extinction during intercomponent intervals.
Main Results:
- In Experiment 1, greater resistance to change was observed in the component with higher reinforcement rates.
- Experiment 2 showed increased resistance to change in the component with added response-independent food, despite similar baseline response rates.
- These findings align with previous research in other species.
Conclusions:
- Resistance to change is a general phenomenon observed even in phylogenetically primitive species like goldfish.
- Reinforcement rate and concurrent response-independent food delivery enhance resistance to change.
- The study confirms the cross-species generality of resistance to change principles.
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