Performance of Betta splendens in a radial arm maze
Animal Learning and Behavior, 10 (1):
108--114 (February 1982)Abstract
Six Siamese fighting fish were tested in aquatic versions of radial arm mazes. In the 1st experiment, Ss were trained to find tubifex worms in an 8-arm maze in which the optimal strategy was to choose each arm once without repetition. After initial training, the fish entered approximately 6.63 different arms in 8 choices, showing a strong tendency to choose sequences of adjacent arms and moving about the maze in a stereotypic direction. This algorithmic response pattern was not, however, sufficient to predict the high performance level of the fish. In the 2nd experiment, a delay of .5 or 5 min was interposed between the 4th and 5th choices. Similar stereotypic patterns continued in Exp II with 5 of the original Ss, but choice accuracy following the longer delay declined to a level not significantly above chance. In the 3rd experiment, 12 Ss were tested in a 3-arm maze, reinforced either for returning from the second arm to the arm in which they had most recently been fed (win-stay) or for visiting a 3rd arm (win-shift). The fish were significantly faster at acquiring the win-shift contingency than the win-stay contingency. These results demonstrate that solution of spatial tasks depends on the interaction of appropriate behavioral strategies and cognitive capacities that may have little generality across species.