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Effects of acute caffeine dosage on fixed‐ratio rate of responding on goldfish
Author(s) -
Li Anita,
Pritchard Josh
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.lb529
Subject(s) - caffeine , pharmacology , drug , psychoactive drug , psychology , medicine , physiology , psychiatry
Caffeine is a common drug that is consumed by humans and non‐humans; humans consume it after processing, and non‐humans ingest as a byproduct of horticulture. As such, its effects are readily available for study without adversely affecting an organism through long‐term health sequelae or permanent behavior change. Behavioral pharmacology allows researchers to examine the effects of drugs on behavior. Dews (1955) pioneered the methodology for these types of examinations in behavioral pharmacology by linking the study of drug effects to operant techniques. The typical subjects for these drug studies include rats, pigeons, and humans; as such, there have been little to no research to date on the study of drug effects on goldfish using operant methodology. This paper will provide an overview of caffeine as a drug, techniques used in behavioral pharmacology, and the experimental basis for studying goldfish and caffeine.