About Siamese fighting fish

1This research was supported in part by research grant GB-1912 from the National Science Foundation, and a General Research Support Grant from the University of Minnesota. Reprints may be obtained from Dr. Travis Thompson, Psychiatry Research, Box 390 Mayo, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455.

Abstract

Unconditioned aggressive-display behavior elicited by the mirror image of a male Siamese Fighting Fish was brought under the control of a previously ineffective stimulus by classical conditioning. A stimulus light repeatedly paired with mirror presentation came to elicit the complex aggressive-behavior sequence. Relative rates of acquisition of four components of the display were compared. Fin erection and undulating movements were acquired most rapidly while gill-cover erection and frontal approach were acquired most slowly. A discriminative conditioning procedure revealed that the response was specifically elicited by the conditioned stimulus, and not a sensitization artifact.

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

• Thompson TI. Visual Reinforcement in Siamese Fighting Fish. Science. 1963 Jul 5;141(3575):55–57.
• THOMPSON T, STURM T. VISUAL-REINFORCER COLOR, AND OPERANT BEHAVIOR IN SIAMESE FIGHTING FISH. J Exp Anal Behav. 1965 Sep;8:341–344.