Are you quite forgetful? Have you ever used the term having the memory of a goldfish? Well if you have, you are not being all that scientifically correct. This also depends whether one is talking about the working memory or the attention span. Let us evaluate the evidence.

The ability to focus and pay attention may be changing in response to our environment, which is increasingly filled with distractions, especially in the online world. However, that is a different argument. Our cognitive abilities are in constant change and there is no reason to fear as habitual video gamers have shown better attentional abilities.

The goldfish is a member of the carp family and is a domesticated version of a less colourful carp that is native to East Asia. Contrary to popular belief, goldfish have very good memories as fish and can be trained to respond in various ways to different kinds of music and colours of light. Goldfish are also known to eat everything, including other fish eggs, and have big appetites. They will not stop eating if there is food around, even if they are full. Due to their love of food, they also remember at what time they are fed, such that they anticipate feeding time. This implies that they also have a very good sense of time. In one experiment, goldfish learned to press the lever at a certain time of day in order to get food, as during other times no food would appear, even if the lever was pressed at different times. The goldfish learned to ignore pressing the lever when it wasn’t the time to eat.

Goldfish are therefore able to associate people with food, also called associative learning, and are able to observe their fellow fish and accomplish social learning. There goes the saying you have the memory of goldfish. If you actually do, you must possess quite a good memory.

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