Undergraduates sometimes ask what the value of animal research is in psychology. The study of nonhuman animals has actually played a huge part in psychology, and it continues to do so today. If yous've taken an introductory psychology class, then you have probably read about seminal psychological research that was done with animals: Skinner's rats, Pavlov'southward dogs, Harlow's monkeys. Unfortunately, many introductory textbooks don't give the full moving picture of animal inquiry. Studies are often described without specifying that they were creature studies. When homo studies are presented, in that location is rarely discussion of the bones animal inquiry that enabled those studies to be done. Finally, information regarding the ethical and regulatory environments in which animal research is conducted is covered in a superficial fashion or omitted birthday. These are of import problems that deserve better understanding and broader discussion.

Why Nonhuman Animals are Studied in Psychology

Role of the justification for why nonhuman animals are studied in psychology has to do with the fact of evolution. Humans share mutual ancestry with the species virtually commonly studied in psychology: mice, rats, monkeys. To be sure, each species has its ain specializations that enable it to fit into its unique ecological niche; just common ancestry results in structural (due east.m., brain) and functional (east.g., memory) processes that are remarkably similar between humans and nonhumans. In addition, nosotros tin better sympathise fundamental processes considering of the precise command enabled by animal research (e.1000., living environments, experimental atmospheric condition, etc.). We tin as well inquire and reply certain questions that would exist difficult or impossible to practice with humans. For example, nosotros know what the connections are between the amygdala and other brain regions, but how does activeness in the amygdala affect brain operation? Using a new technique, it is at present possible to temporarily inactivate the amygdala in a monkey and see how other brain areas (including those that are not directly connected to the amygdala) alter their activity (Grayson et al., 2016). A study such every bit this non only helps u.s.a. better understand how the brain works, but information technology besides has enormous potential for developing treatments for people who have abnormal patterns of brain activity, such as those with epilepsy or Parkinson'due south disease. Ten years from now, students may very well read in their textbooks about a "new treatment" to help people with Parkinson's illness. Will this monkey report, which enabled such a discovery to be made, exist described? Probably not, in much the same way that nonhuman research that permitted a significant human study to be conducted is rarely described in today'due south textbooks.

Weighing Harm and Benefit

Researchers who study nonhumans recognize that their studies may involve sure harms that tin can range from the relatively modest (e.g., drawing a claret sample) to the more serious (e.g., neurosurgery). The research community tries to mitigate some of the harms by insuring, for example, that the animals' psychological well-existence is optimized; in fact, there is a large body of psychological research that focuses on animate being welfare and identifying all-time practices to business firm and intendance for animals in captivity. Still, some harms volition remain, and ethically, ane must weigh those harms against the potential benefits (for humans and for the animals themselves) to be obtained from the research. As of import is the consideration of the potential harms to humans of not doing the research. For instance, without any brute research, effective treatments for human conditions similar Alzheimer'south affliction may very well exist found, but information technology would certainly take decades longer to detect them, and in the concurrently, millions and millions of additional people would endure.

Regulations for Animal Research

Finally, it's important to note that animal research in the United States is very tightly regulated by a serial of federal and state laws, policies and regulations, dating back to the landmark Animal Welfare Act from 1966. Oversight and inspection of facilities is provided by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and, at the local level by Institutional Animal Care and Employ Committees (IACUCs). Even procedures as elementary as cartoon a blood sample or testing an animal on a cognitive chore must be approved by the local IACUC earlier the work can brainstorm. Function of that blessing process requires the scientist to identify whether there might exist less invasive ways to exercise the aforementioned thing. In addition, the scientist must justify the numbers of animals that they use, insuring they are using the smallest number possible.

Animal research continues to play a vital part in psychology, enabling discoveries of bones psychological and physiological processes that are of import for living healthy lives. You can acquire more about some of this research, also equally the ethical and regulatory problems that are involved, past consulting online resources such as Speaking of Research.

References

Grayson D.S., Elation-Moreau E., Machado C.J., Bennett J., Shen K., Grant Chiliad.A., Fair D.A., Amaral, D.G. The rhesus monkey connectome predicts disrupted functional networks resulting from pharmacogenetic inactivation of the amygdala. Neuron. 2016 Jul 20;91(2):453-66.

About the author

John Capitanio, PhD John Capitanio, PhD, is a enquiry psychologist in the section of psychology at the University of California, Davis, and a core scientist at the California National Primate Research Center. He received his PhD in comparative psychology from the University of California at Davis in 1982, and was a postdoctoral researcher in developmental psychobiology in the section of psychiatry at the University of Colorado Wellness Sciences Center. He is the erstwhile acquaintance director for research at the Primate Center, a past president of the American Club of Primatologists, a recipient of the Patricia R. Barchas Award in Sociophysiology from the American Psychosomatic Club, a fellow of several professional societies, and in 2012, he received the Distinguished Primatologist Award from the American Guild of Primatologists. He is currently the chair of APA's Committee on Animal Inquiry and Ethics. Capitanio's research interests are focused on developing naturally-occurring nonhuman primate models of psychological processes, in order to better sympathise the underlying biology of phenomena such as loneliness, inhibited temperament and poor social operation.