Temperature Independence of an Arbitrary Temporal Discrimination in the Goldfish.

Goldfish were taught to press a lever for food reinforcement and were placed on a 1-minute fixed-interval schedule. They developed the characteristic temporal discrimination (scalloping) seen in rats and pigeons. There was no change in their relative response rate through the 1-minute interval when ambient temperature was decreased by 10 degrees C. This 10 degrees C temperature drop, which approximately halves the metabolic rate, approximately halved the absolute response rate. These results indicate that a temporal discrimination can be established in the goldfish, and suggest that discriminations of short intervals in fish are not dependent on a mechanism tied directly to metabolic rate.