OK, one more time.....
Here's my contention, stripped of all fishing references.
1. Organisms respond to what is known as "Classical Conditioning".
2. Positive reinforcment improves the likelihood that the organism will repeat a particular behavior.
3. Negative reinforcement decreases the likelihood that an organisms will repeat a particular behavior.
All I'm saying is this and I'll make it in bold so it's easy to understand.
Actual food is positive reinforcement. Be it bluegills or pellets. This is why an organism's ability to be conditioned is different when exposing them to a food item like a real pellet, than if you are exposing them to a non-food item like a fishing lure. I'm not saying, nor will I ever say that you are wrong by saying that fish elicit decreased response to things they have been punished for.
I hate it when I agree with someone and they still want to argue about it.
