| dc.description.abstract | The archer fish, Toxotesjaculator, has the ability to knock
insects out of the air by spitting at them. Although many studies
have been done using the archer fish, it has never been
considered from the operant conditioning perspective. In the
wild the fish does not always get the prey at which it spits.
Therefore, it is possible that a Variable Ratio (VR) schedule of
reinforcement is involved in the spitting process. In an effort to
understand this behaviour, one must first demonstrate operant
conditioning with the spitting response. This hypothesis was
tested in the laboratory with three fish in three indentical tanks,
each with a target apparatus, an automatic food dispenser; all
were attached to a PET computer to control the schedules and to
record responses and reinforcements. All three fish were
successfully shaped to spit at the target and all came under
control of a Continuous Reinforcement (CRF), a Variable Ratio 3,
5, 8, and 10 schedule of reinforcement. I also found that the fish
showed greater resistance to extinction following a VR 10
schedule relative to CRF. The results of this experiment suggest
operant learning principles can be used to control the spitting
behaviour of the archer fish. | |
