Fish much smarter than we imagined

John wrote in message ws.com...
Fish much smarter than we imagined

LUCY BANNERMAN October 02 2003


Copyright 2003 Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights
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FIRST they dismissed the three-second memory as a goldfish myth. Now
scientists say that as well as being brain food for us, fish use their
brains to find food themselves.

Research by Phil Gee, a psychologist from Plymouth University, has
shown that fish may not be the dunces of the food chain after all.
In a three-month experiment, his research team found they could train
goldfish to collect food at certain times of the day. Fish were taught
to nudge a lever that released food into their bowls. According to the
findings, the goldfish learned to push the lever when they were
hungry.

Over time, researchers adjusted the lever, reducing the availability
of food until it was dispensed for just one hour every day.
The scientists claim that as the fish adapted to their new routine
they became more attentive to the lever as feeding hour approached.
Rather than having a mere three-second memory, Mr Gee said the
experiment revealed that the aquatic brain knows when it is lunchtime.
He said: "The fish worked out that if they hit the lever around that
time, they would get food. Their activity around the lever increased
enormously just before the set hour when their food was dispensed. But
then, if no food came out, they stopped pressing the lever when the
hour was up.

snip

Obviously, the fish were cheating. Probably had pocket watches.