I've been trying to tell people about this for years and now I finally have some proof!! Dr Dean Pomerleau has managed to train his beloved goldfish, Comet to perform a range of tasks using positive re-inforcement training.
Dr Pomerleau says: "We've used techniques that we've customised for pet fish, but are based on those used to train dolphins and other marine mammals. The basic idea is to reinforce successive, increasingly accurate approximations of a desired behaviour.
"In training an animal to press a lever, for example, simply turning toward the lever will be rewarded at first. Then, only turning and stepping toward it will be rewarded.
In training an animal to press a lever, for example, simply turning toward the lever will be rewarded at first. Then, only turning and stepping toward it will be rewarded.
With a little time and repetition, the animal will learn to perform the complete behaviour to receive the reward."
Bring on my new intelligent aquatic community fishtank.
[VIA]
