Discrimination of “W” and “V” Shapes by Goldfish
Open Access
- 1 February 1969
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
- Vol. 21 (1) , 69-76
- https://doi.org/10.1080/14640746908400198
Abstract
Goldfish were trained to discriminate between “W” and “V” shapes; different groups were trained with the shapes in different orientations. Transfer tests were given after training and the following conclusions were drawn. Animals learned to discriminate between the training shapes by detecting the difference in the number of points present in each; they learned the difference in the relative number of points rather than the absolute number present in each shape; the subjects transferred well to pairs of shapes bearing points facing in different directions from those on the training shapes; knobs were treated as practically equivalent to points; animals relied more heavily on differences at the tops of the shapes than on differences in the bottom halves.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Visual discrimination by the goldfish: The orientation of rectanglesAnimal Behaviour, 1963
- A test of a theory of shape discrimination in Octopus Vulgaris Lamarck.Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1959