Fishnition: A Cognition Assessment for Fish?

Look at what we just reeled in. Should we consider this a competitor?

April 1st is our favorite day of the year at Dognition HQ, so allow us to introduce the newest player in the comparative cognition space: Fishnition, the first at-home assessment toolkit for goldfish, guppies, and the occasional betta with something to prove. Games include “Follow the Flake,” “Glass Wall Object Permanence,” and the rigorously validated “Three-Second Memory Challenge” (spoiler: it is a myth — fish memory is actually months long).

The (real) science of fish cognition

Joking aside, fish cognition is a genuinely fascinating field. Cleaner wrasse can pass the mirror self-recognition test. Archerfish learn to compensate for refraction when spitting at moving targets. Cichlids remember individual tankmates and adjust their behavior based on who is watching. If you had told a comparative psychologist in 1990 that fish would be studied for episodic-like memory and social learning, they would have laughed you out of the lab. Today it is a serious literature.

Which raises a fair question: if fish are that clever, why don’t we build a real Fishnition? Because at the end of the day, the reason people play Dognition isn’t the score — it’s the relationship. You cannot cuddle a guppy. A goldfish will not greet you at the door. And no fish, no matter how well it remembers you, is going to lean against your leg while you cry.

So, competitor or not?

Not really. Different niche. But we salute our aquatic colleagues and wish them well in their scientific endeavors. Meanwhile, if you want to see how your dog stacks up on the cognitive dimensions that decades of research have actually validated, play the Dognition Assessment. No aquarium required.

Happy April Fools’ Day from the Dognition team.