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The use of animals

The use of animals. www.psychlotron.org.uk. Constraints on the use of animals Arguments for and against their use in psychological research Practical Moral & ethical. The use of animals. www.psychlotron.org.uk. Many pitfalls for the unwary:

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The use of animals

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  1. The use of animals www.psychlotron.org.uk • Constraints on the use of animals • Arguments for and against their use in psychological research • Practical • Moral & ethical

  2. The use of animals www.psychlotron.org.uk • Many pitfalls for the unwary: • Unsubstantiated assertion e.g. animals feel as much pain as humans • Naïve assumptions e.g. animal researchers do it because they’re evil and they enjoy it • Irrelevance e.g. writing about medical, surgical or cosmetic research, not psychological investigations

  3. The use of animals www.psychlotron.org.uk • Many examples are possible, from many different areas e.g.: • Developmental (maternal deprivation) • Physiological (stress, sleep) • Abnormal (drug treatments) • Try to select a variety to show synopticity

  4. Constraints on use www.psychlotron.org.uk • Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act • Licensing & inspection • Constraints on numbers & species • Requirements for suitable facilities • Competence & qualification requirements

  5. Constraints on use www.psychlotron.org.uk • BPS guidelines on animal research • Specific application to psychology • Requirement for humane treatment • Requirement to consider alternatives • Cost benefit analysis

  6. Arguments for www.psychlotron.org.uk • Practical arguments (is it useful?) • Continuity • Convenience • Usefulness • Ethical arguments (is it moral?) • Utilitarianism • Duty to species

  7. Continuity www.psychlotron.org.uk • We share common ancestry with other animals (Darwin, 1859) • Basic similarities in physiological structure & functioning • Behavioural similarities with some species (e.g. primates) • Animal research therefore gives valid information about human processes

  8. Convenience www.psychlotron.org.uk • Animals can be used in ways humans can’t • Short lifespans & breeding cycles enable inheritance to be studied • Behaviour can be controlled and monitored in ways impossible with people • Less reactivity

  9. Usefulness www.psychlotron.org.uk • Animal research is demonstrably useful to psychologists • Knowledge of nervous system structure & functioning • Understanding of stress, abnormal behaviour, sleep… • Our understanding of human behaviour would be very limited if not for animal research

  10. Ethical arguments www.psychlotron.org.uk • Utilitarian • The suffering of a small number of animals is justified because it helps a large number of people • Moral duty • We have a moral obligation to our own species to advance knowledge and reduce suffering. Animal research is justified if it furthers this (Gray, 1991)

  11. Other points www.psychlotron.org.uk • The constraints on the use of animals protect animals sufficiently and prevent unnecessary suffering • This is shown by: • Reduction in number and range of animals used in labs • Increase in non-invasive & field-based studies

  12. Arguments against www.psychlotron.org.uk • Counterarguments to those presented in favour of animal research • Discontinuity or continuity? • Ecological validity • Generalisability • Moral arguments

  13. Discontinuity or continuity? www.psychlotron.org.uk • Points out an inconsistency in continuity argument • If other animals are so similar to us they should be afforded the same ethical considerations as us • Or, if they are so different from us, then generalisation is of questionable value

  14. Ecological validity www.psychlotron.org.uk • Questions the value of the data obtained from animal studies • Lab based animal studies produce unnatural behaviour (e.g. drug addiction studies) • Field studies disturb the environment & consequently, behaviour

  15. Generalisability www.psychlotron.org.uk • Suggests that even when data are valid, they can’t be applied to humans • Differences in human and animal evolution & genes • Structural differences in nervous system (e.g. cerebral cortex) • Influence of language, culture, higher cognitive processes

  16. Moral arguments www.psychlotron.org.uk • Utilitarianism gives human suffering priority over animal suffering – this is a form of discrimination (speciesism; Singer, 1975) • Animals have rights as people do. We have a moral obligation to protect them. No amount of regulation can justify animal research

  17. Other points www.psychlotron.org.uk • Safeguards are difficult to enforce; abuses may be undetected • Cost benefit analyses as required by guidelines easily skewed in favour of research • The fact that you never know in advance the outcome of research means that some will always be useless

  18. Conclusions www.psychlotron.org.uk • These are up to you, but make sure you… • Look at both sides • Present a balanced argument • Use suitable examples to support your claims

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