Prompting Sidman Avoidance Behavior in Betta splendens

Abstract

Previous research has found that Betta splendens (Siamese fighting fish) often do not learn Sidman avoidance behavior, whereas other fish species, including Carassius auratus (goldfish), readily do. The present study looked at whether Betta splendens could be taught Sidman avoidance of water disturbance during four conditions: a baseline condition, two intervention or teaching phases, and a return-to-baseline condition. During the first baseline conditions three fish were exposed to a divided experimental tank that delivered water disturbance on a 30-s response-flow (i.e., water turbulence) interval after the fish remained on one side of the two-sided tank. Avoidance was defined as crossing between the sides of the tank within the 30-s interval. If the fish did not cross over, it was exposed to a 10-s flow-flow interval of water disturbance, from which it could escape by crossing over. During the first intervention or teaching phase, following each 30-s interval of non-responding (i.e., no crossover), the fish were prompted by the experimenter using a hand-held barrier to emit the avoidance response of crossing over. The crossing over responses were immediately reinforced by presenting a mirror in front of the fish. During the second teaching phase, the schedule of reinforcement was changed to a variable ratio. The second baseline condition was identical to the first baseline condition. Results showed an increase in the frequency of independent (i.e., unprompted) crossovers between the two sides of the experimental tank during the intervention phases. During the return-to-baseline condition the increased responding was maintained for one of the three fish, suggesting that at least some members of this species can learn Sidman avoidance.