Claim

Goldfish have a memory span of about three seconds.

Type QUANTITATIVE · truth-evaluable: yes · status at snapshot: ACTIVE · created seq 456

Referenced 226 times: checked 1, looked up by assistants 0, viewed 124, shared 101. A count of attention, not evidence.

Topics

Biology · d473d57f Memes · d473d57f

Assessment

Contradicted

Score: 0.0532 under ledger-default@0.3.0 at snapshot 27745

2 of 4 review checks done · 2 counted

2 independent evidence lineages · review checks 2 of 4 · stability HIGH

Main unresolved issue: 8 counted evidence items have no independence review; repeats of one origin may be counted as several coverage:c471f19d-e2b6-831a-a6f2-a74856e449d1

Not yet independently audited.Every quoted passage was confirmed on the page when Galedra fetched it.

Why?

Strongest counted contradiction: The excerpt says goldfish memories span weeks, months, and even years, directly contradicting a three-second memory span. weight 1.800000 evidence

Suppressed as dependent: A cognition researcher says goldfish memories span weeks, months, and even years.; The source reports studies showing goldfish memories can span several months.; Fish-cognition expert Culum Brown says goldfish memories span weeks, months, and years, not three seconds.; Fish cognition researcher Culum Brown says goldfish memories span weeks, months and even years.

Review gaps: independence reviewed, primary source reviewed

What would most change this: One independent, direct measurement that supports this claim would move it from Contradicted to Leans contradicted.

Hide calculation

0.0532 under ledger-default@0.3.0 at snapshot 27745 · state Contradicted · Review checks: 2 of 4 · stability HIGH · 8 sources, 2 independent lineages

Model ledger-default@0.3.0 (the default model, not the answer) · snapshot 27745 · trace sha256:6a7d46938f2a303e58bc7116a92ea0e58c761d56b3e755dc7f78f887cce73840

Last changed at entry seq 11301; nothing logged since has borne on this claim.

How the number was reached

Each counted link is weighed by multiplying the factors the model declares; a factor it does not declare is not shown. Every factor name below links to what that number means.

Link	Working	Weight	Counted as
03b71e4f contradict	relevance DIRECT 2.0 × observation DIRECT_TEXT 0.9 × interpretation 0 steps, 1 − 0.15 × 0 1.000000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	1.800000	1.800000
d81f84f3 contradict	relevance DIRECT 2.0 × observation DIRECT_TEXT 0.9 × interpretation 0 steps, 1 − 0.15 × 0 1.000000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	1.800000	0.000000 (dependent strongest only, kept 03b71e4f)
f5a27e32 contradict	relevance STRONG 1.2 × observation DIRECT_TEXT 0.9 × interpretation 0 steps, 1 − 0.15 × 0 1.000000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	1.080000	0.000000 (dependent strongest only, kept 510f6ae2)
c3755515 qualify	relevance DIRECT 2.0 × observation DIRECT_TEXT 0.9 × interpretation 0 steps, 1 − 0.15 × 0 1.000000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	1.800000	0.000000 (non directional)
6d4b012f qualify	relevance MODERATE 0.6 × observation EXPERT_ANALYSIS 0.3 × interpretation 1 step, 1 − 0.15 × 1 0.850000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	0.153000	0.000000 (non directional)
510f6ae2 contradict	relevance STRONG 1.2 × observation DIRECT_TEXT 0.9 × interpretation 0 steps, 1 − 0.15 × 0 1.000000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	1.080000	1.080000
5d3e7716 contradict	relevance DIRECT 2.0 × observation DIRECT_TEXT 0.9 × interpretation 0 steps, 1 − 0.15 × 0 1.000000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	1.800000	0.000000 (dependent strongest only, kept 03b71e4f)
7be7392c contradict	relevance DIRECT 2.0 × observation EXPERT_ANALYSIS 0.3 × interpretation 0 steps, 1 − 0.15 × 0 1.000000 × authenticity UNVERIFIED 1.0 × extraction UNVERIFIED 1.0 × provenance INDEPENDENT 1.0 × edition NAMED_OR_UNRELATED 1	0.600000	0.000000 (dependent strongest only, kept 03b71e4f)

prior 0.50 → log-odds 0.000000 + -2.880000 (the counted weights) = -2.880000 → probability 0.0532

Under neighbouring settings of the same model: 0.1175 to 0.0231, a spread of 0.0944.

Half-even rounding, six places for weights and four for the probability. The same inputs under the same model reproduce this exactly; that is what the trace hash above is for. How a score is worked out explains every factor, why it is there, and what the model sets it to.

Your view

Registered views

Nobody has registered a view yet.

Registered views are personal belief, not evidence: they never change Galedra's assessment. Affiliations are self-declared and shown only for groups of 5 or more.

Checked as part of

Statements this claim was broken out of. The claim is scored on its own; a statement's reading only counts its claims.

“Goldfish have a memory span of about three seconds.” · 1 claim · 28 September 2026
“FACT CHECK YOUR TEACHERS 🧠 Humans only use 10% of their brains. Einstein failed math as a kid and still changed physics. The Great Wall of China is the only...” · 8 claims · 19 September 2026
“FACT CHECK YOUR TEACHERS 🧠 Humans only use 10% of their brains. Einstein failed math as a kid and still changed physics. The Great Wall of China is the only...” · 2 claims · 19 September 2026

Evidence for

None.

Evidence against

Fish cognition researcher Culum Brown says goldfish memories span weeks, months and even years.

From Do goldfish really have a 3-second memory? Read 2026-09-19 Relevance DIRECT Steps 0 Counted
Studies have repeatedly shown that goldfish memories can span several months.

From Goldfish May Have a Longer Memory Span Than Just Three Seconds Read 2026-09-19 Relevance STRONG Steps 0 Counted
The excerpt says goldfish memories span weeks, months, and even years, directly contradicting a three-second memory span.

From Do goldfish really have a 3-second memory? Read 2026-09-19 Relevance DIRECT Steps 0 Counted
The source reports studies showing goldfish memories can span several months.

From Goldfish May Have a Longer Memory Span Than Just Three Seconds Read 2026-09-19 Relevance STRONG Steps 0 Counted

The reported months-long span conflicts with a three-second duration.
A cognition researcher says goldfish memories span weeks, months, and even years.

From Do goldfish really have a 3-second memory? Read 2026-09-19 Relevance DIRECT Steps 0 Counted

The reported weeks-to-years range conflicts with a three-second duration.
Fish-cognition expert Culum Brown says goldfish memories span weeks, months, and years, not three seconds.

From Do goldfish really have a 3-second memory? Read 2026-09-28 Relevance DIRECT Steps 0 Counted

The source explicitly identifies the three-second claim as a myth and reports longer memory durations.

Qualifications

No exact span can be pinned down, because some memories are more notable to a fish than others.

From Do goldfish really have a 3-second memory? Read 2026-09-19 Relevance MODERATE Steps 1 Counted

Retention varies by task, so no single number replaces the three seconds.
The source says no exact goldfish memory span can be pinned down because memories differ in notability.

From Do goldfish really have a 3-second memory? Read 2026-09-19 Relevance DIRECT Steps 0 Counted

The exact duration is not fixed by the cited evidence.

Suppressed as dependent

Evidence	Group	Kept instead
af4c4aa2		03b71e4f
87a6b150		510f6ae2
737c5bc7		03b71e4f
bf4804b3		03b71e4f

Inferences

Concluded from

None.

Used as a premise in

None.

An inference is interpretation, not evidence: it never changes the assessment of its conclusion. Each premise is a claim with its own evidence.

Threads

None. Threads are for disagreements about how a determination was made — a statement whose figures are not in the passage it rests on, two sources that may share an origin. Something about the world belongs in the evidence above.

Claim edges

None. Edges are stored and displayed; v0.1 does not propagate probability across them.

Review checklist

Review checks: 2 of 4

Check	Done	By
qualifiers reviewed	yes	fe4c2de3
opposing search done	yes	d4de6433
independence reviewed	no
primary source reviewed	no

Summary

Contradicted. The main contradiction is: The excerpt says goldfish memories span weeks, months, and even years, directly contradicting a three-second memory span. 29025753

4 further items repeat the same origin and are not independent evidence. af4c4aa287a6b150737c5bc7bf4804b3

Qualifier: The source says no exact goldfish memory span can be pinned down because memories differ in notability. c31dd614

Qualifier: No exact span can be pinned down, because some memories are more notable to a fish than others. 643017bf

A search for evidence in the opposing direction found none. d4de6433

Review checks: 2 of 4. coverage:c471f19d-e2b6-831a-a6f2-a74856e449d1

Generated by stub-v0.1; every sentence cites graph ids.

Contribution history

seq	event	detail
456	APPENDED
457	ACCEPT	AUTOMATIC_AFTER_VALIDATION
482	LINK_EVIDENCE	by d473d57f (accepted)
484	LINK_EVIDENCE	by d473d57f (accepted)
486	LINK_EVIDENCE	by d473d57f (accepted)
8360	TASK_RESULT	by 1efd24fe (accepted)
9104	TASK_RESULT	by 1efd24fe (accepted)
11300	LINK_EVIDENCE	by 1efd24fe (accepted)

Score trace

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