Myth check: do goldfish have a three-second memory?
Tests: 6 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 9 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 152 of the biology course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.
Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.
Test 1 · ★ · right ✓
«my goldfish forgets me every 3 seconds so it doesn't matter if i forget to feed it» What is right?
- 1. Right, goldfish feed on the bowl — score 4
- 2. Right, goldfish only need to eat about once a month, so a week is nothing — no support
- 3. Wrong twice: it can remember for months, and it still needs regular food — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
- 4. Right, it won't notice — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 9, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 55, line 5: «Cartoons show bears snoring all winter and waking up in spring with a big stretch, and goldfish forgetting everything in 3 seconds; real bears sleep more light…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «remember» (+4); the same property (+3); the same doer «goldfish» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 2 · ★ · right ✓
A cartoon goldfish sees the castle in its bowl and gasps «new castle!» every lap. What is true?
- 1. Real goldfish cannot see castles — score 5
- 2. Real goldfish remember only gold things, so they would forget a grey castle — score 7
- 3. It is a joke; real goldfish remember their surroundings for weeks — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8
- 4. That is exactly how goldfish think — score 4
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 8, against 7 for the next best. Its support: lesson 152, line 5: «The three-second memory is a myth; experiments show goldfish can remember things for weeks and even months.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same property (+4); the same action «remember» (+2); the same doer «goldfish» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗
«three goldfish, no wait, four. how many eyes is that»
- 1. 4 — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. 8 — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. 6 — no support
- 4. 12 — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · ★ · wrong ✗
Two goldfish and a cat are watching each other. How many tails altogether?
- 1. 2 — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. 3 — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. 6 — no support
- 4. 4 — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 5 · ★ · wrong ✗
What would happen if a fish really forgot everything every three seconds?
- 1. It would get cleverer — ← Mova's choice · score 4
- 2. It could not learn where food or danger is and would soon die in the wild — ✓ the right answer · score 1
- 3. It would live much longer — score 2
- 4. Nothing would change for it, because fish live on luck rather than memory — score 2
Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 4, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 133, line 2: «Real blue tangs do not forget everything: most fish remember things for weeks or months, so Dory's memory is a story idea, not fish science.», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «most fish» (+4). The right option, 2, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 6 · ★ · right ✓
«they grow to fit the bowl, so a small bowl keeps 'em cute and small» What is right?
- 1. A small bowl stunts their growth and makes them ill; they need a big filtered tank — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
- 2. Yes, and it makes them live longer — no support
- 3. No, they shrink back down if they are put in a big tank, so small bowls are best — no support
- 4. Yes, that is how it works — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 152, line 11: «Goldfish do not «grow to fit the bowl»; in a small bowl their growth is stunted and they get ill.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «stunt» (+4); the same thing acted on «growth» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 7 · ★ · right ✓
«we're moving, just chuck the goldfish in the lake, it'll be free» What is the best answer?
- 1. Fine, if you do it at night — score 0
- 2. Fine, goldfish belong in lakes — no support
- 3. Don't; it can grow huge and harm the lake's own fish, so give it to a new owner — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 7
- 4. Fine, it will die within a day anyway, so it makes no difference where it goes — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 7, against 0 for the next best. Its support: lesson 152, line 13: «Goldfish must never be let go in the wild, where they can grow huge and harm native fish.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «harm» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same thing acted on «native fish» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 8 · ★ · wrong ✗
A goldfish darts away when the net comes in. What does that show?
- 1. It wants to play chase — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It forgot what a net is — no support
- 3. It senses the net and avoids something that could hurt or scare it — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. It is trying to swim into the net because it wants to be taken out of the tank — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · ★ · right ✓
A goldfish in a science video swims through a maze faster each day. What does that show?
- 1. Fish swim faster when tired — score 1
- 2. It remembers the way from earlier tries — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 5
- 3. The maze gets shorter each day — no support
- 4. It is just lucky every day — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 5, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 152, line 6: «In one experiment goldfish learned to push a lever for food and remembered the time of day when it worked.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «remember» (+3); the same doer «goldfish» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 10 · ★ · wrong ✗
«stupid fish's staring at nothing again» Why might the goldfish be looking at «nothing»?
- 1. Fish are blind — no support
- 2. It has forgotten how to swim and is waiting until it remembers — ← Mova's choice · score 0
- 3. It is asleep and dreaming — no support
- 4. It may be seeing ultraviolet light that we cannot see — ✓ the right answer · score -1
Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 0, against -1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 152, line 6: «In one experiment goldfish learned to push a lever for food and remembered the time of day when it worked.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. The right option, 4, scored -1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 11 · ★ · right ✓
Why might a goldfish keep gulping at the surface?
- 1. It wants to jump out of the water and fly — no support
- 2. It is very happy and wants to play — no support
- 3. It is trying to drink the air for fun — no support
- 4. The water may be short of oxygen — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9
Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 9, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 152, line 10: «Small round bowls are bad for goldfish: their waste quickly makes the water dirty and short of oxygen, so they need a big tank with a filter; a fish that keeps…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same property (+3); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+3); the same circumstance (+2); a different doer (counts against) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the duration of memory in the goldfish.
- 1. Memory is retained for a period not exceeding three seconds — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Memory is retained solely in respect of the colour gold — no support
- 3. The goldfish possesses no capacity for memory whatsoever, owing to the small size of its brain — no support
- 4. Experimental evidence indicates that memories may be retained for weeks or months — ✓ the right answer · no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗
Identify the principal reason for which a small spherical bowl is unsuitable for the keeping of goldfish.
- 1. The bowl admits an excess of daylight — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The fish is compelled to grow to the exact dimensions of the bowl and then cease growing entirely — no support
- 3. Waste accumulates rapidly and the water becomes deficient in oxygen — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. The curvature of the glass induces confusion in the fish — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓
It is given that a fish keeper sounds a bell on each occasion prior to feeding. Determine the behaviour subsequently exhibited by the fish.
- 1. The fish exhibit no alteration in behaviour — no support
- 2. The fish assemble upon hearing the bell, in anticipation of food — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
- 3. The fish disperse upon hearing the bell — no support
- 4. The fish cease to feed altogether — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 152, line 16: «Most scientists now think fish feel pain and stress; they learn to avoid things that hurt them, so many countries have rules about caring for fish kindly.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «learn» (+2); the same doer «fish» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the origin of the domestic goldfish?
- 1. It was produced artificially by breeders in Europe within the present century — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It is a marine fish of tropical coral reefs — no support
- 3. It was bred from a wild carp in China over approximately one thousand years — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. It descends from a species of shark — no support
Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/152-goldfish-memory/