Five groups of 6 goldfish each (15 to 20 cm) were trained in a Y-maze daily until a criterion of 18 out of 20 correct turns was obtained. Four of the groups were tested in an ethanol or bourbon solution (650 mg of ethanol per 100 ml in each) after being in the solution for 2 hours (2 groups) or 6 hr. The 5th group was tested in water. After 2 hr in the bourbon or ethanol solutions both groups had a similar rate of learning (mean number of trials to criterion 66 and 63), significantly different from the group in water (26 trials, p<.02). After 6 hr in the solution the ethanol group learned quickly (35 trials), but, with the exception of 1 fish (72 trials), none of the bourbon group learned even after 2 days of training. In a second experiment 16 fish were trained to avoid an electric shock (1 to 2 v) on the presentation of a stimulus. Ten fish were tested in an ethanol solution and 6 in a bourbon solution (600 mg of ethanol per 100 ml) after being in the solutions for 3 hr. The ethanol group learned faster than the bourbon group (7 vs 4 avoidances in 10 trials, p<.05).