Behavior Modification. Teaching your Critters to respond to external stimuli.

[Rupert]

Behavior Modification [Operant Conditioning]. Teaching your Critters to respond to external stimuli.

I have taught my Guppy’s when to expect food, by associating a card placed in the tank [picture] with the initiation of feeding. The next step is to get my Guppies to move from one end of the tank to the other.

I always liked those good aquarium pictures where the fish just happen to be in a good formation. Being relatively new to the hobby I thought a better way was to train your critters to group in response to an external stimuli which was reinforced with food. My Guppies are learning, but a more basic instinct [sex] makes them easily distracted.

The Yamato show absolutely no response to the primary stimuli of the card going in the water or the secondary stimuli of the fish grouping for food. Only when the food hit does the water do they respond, which is natural.

I wonder, is anyone else teaching their critters?

[ranmasatome]

try sound...they do better with that...or rather vibration..

[gregorsamsa]

hey Rupert,

Skinner's experiment?

[Rupert]

hey Rupert,

Skinner's experiment?

Yes Gregorsamsa, based on B.F. Skinner’s Negative and Positive reinforcers. It is a bit hard as I do not really have the equipment I would like. Often the subject is in a box [called a Skinner Box] and the subject is able to generate certain motor-output, (the response, e.g. running through a maze, pressing the lever), the experimentator pairs the desired output with an unconditioned stimulus (food reward).

The trouble with the fish food is that I can’t deliver it at the mid tank level, or from alternate ends very quickly or tidily as the food disperses so quickly. So I end up rewarding the group rather than just the individual, unless I am really stingy with the food, so that only the first few get something to eat. Just cannot bring myself to being that stingy.

The perfect piece of equipment would be a mid tank device that would have a flashing light [external stimuli] that would recognizes each individual as unique and only rewarded that individual if the desired behavior is exhibited.

But at this point in time I am just mucking around and seeing what they will do. Now just interested in seeing what others have done, especially with shrimp

[BFG]

My 2 cents contribution.

My fishes know exactly when food is coming. I had taught them by way of tapping my finger on the hood ten times a set with 3 set of timing. By the 3rd set of tapping, all of the fishes would have come out occupying the feeding area.

[mozesyap]

Interesting, didn't know we can train fishes to respond to things other than food.

I guess I am their visual stimuli, they crowd around when i go near my tank.

They are always hungry aren't they?

[juggler]

Rupert:

Interesting and some questions:
1) are you near the tank when you move the card before feeding, or you moving it by some pulley system so the fish don't see you? What if some other people move the card, do the fish show the same response?
2) when you are near and don't move the card, the fish don't expect food?

For my fish, when I am near or hold the food container in my hand, they expect food already.

[Rupert]

Hello Juggler & Mozesyap,

Yes I am often by my tank, or someone else is, the guppys seem to enjoy by the mere presence of people. But the card does induce a specific behavior of going to the water surface with some sense of purpose and I am not the only one that feeds them. No card no food.

I have removed as many actions as possible that could signify that the card on a bent coat hanger is about to be lowered into the water. I have given them a bit of food then removed the card and put it in the other end of the tank some will follow and get food immediately, this become problematic in that if I go back to the other end, I inevitably reward the ones that stayed behind.

I have tried it once or twice with the light off in the morning, the fish did not respond.

Juggler I can imaging that they recognize the can of food in your hand.

Mozesyap, I have seen goldfish trained to swim through a simple maze get from one end of a tank to another to get food.