Spatial contrast sensitivity of goldfish: mean luminance, temporal frequency and a new psychophysical technique

Behavioral contrast sensitivity in goldfish was examined at various mean luminances and stimulus drift rates. Goldfish were classically conditioned to suppress respiration upon presentation of a drifting sinusoidal grating. Contrast threshold at each spatial frequency was determined by means of a new two-alternative forced-choice procedure in which the observer's decision about the presence of the stimulus was based on the animal's respiration pattern. The results show that: (1) as mean luminance decreases, contrast sensitivity to high spatial frequencies decreases and peak sensitivity shifts to lower spatial frequencies; (2) as drift rate increases, contrast sensitivity to low spatial frequencies increases, but sensitivity to high spatial frequencies is relatively unaffected by stimulus drift rate. Both the mean luminance and temporal frequency of the stimulus clearly influence the behavioral contrast sensitivity of the goldfish in ways that would be predicted from behavioral results from other species. We conclude that the mechanisms that mediate contrast sensitivity in goldfish are similar to those that mediate contrast sensitivity in other vertebrates.