1. The Role of Animal Research in Understanding Human Behavior (HL ONLY)
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2. What You Will Learn The value of animal models in psychology research
Example of animal research
Ethical considerations in animal reseach
What You Will Learn

3. The Value of Animal Models in Psychology Research
Human physiology and genetic set-up is similar to that of animals, which naturally suggests that animal research is to some extent generalizable to humans.
The question is, what is this extent exactly?
According to Shapiro (1998), the number of animals used in psychological research in the USA is anywhere from million animals per year.
About 7.5% of psychological research is animal-based
Most popular species used in research are rats, mice, pigeons, cats, rabbits, hamsters, dogs, chimpanzees and baboons.
The Value of Animal Models in Psychology Research

4. The Value of Animal Models in Psychology Research
Research differs in terms of purposes for which animals are used:
Comparative psychology is interested in animal research itself
They either focus on a particular species or compare this species to humans
Another type of research uses the animals as models of human beings and the expectation is that the findings will be universal and generalizable.
A third type of researchers use animal studies to understand particular human conditions such as diseases.
An animal model is a concept that refers to using animal research to test a certain cause-effect hypothesis about a certain human behavior.
Ex. There are several animal models to explain depression:
Stress models: explain onset of depression by higher exposure to stressful situations
Separation models: explain depression by being separated from attachment figures
Medical models: explain depression by chemical imbalances in the brain
The Value of Animal Models in Psychology Research

5. The Value of Animal Models in Psychology Research
There are four major types of experimental manipulation used in animal models:
Genetic manipulation: when animals are bred in a certain way
Invasive manipulations with the nervous system: parts of the brain are stimulated with electrodes, lesioned or removed
Invasive manipulation with other body parts: parts may be stimulated by substances or damaged
Behavioral and environmental manipulations: such as electric shocks for rats depending on their performance in a maze-learning task
Using animal research to inform our understanding of human behavior relies on the assumption that animal and human brains are similar.
Recent developments in the field of comparative neurobiology have led to the discovery of microscopic differences between animals and humans in certain brain areas.
This has led for the need to compare psychological functions as well (that is, we also look at the problem from the cognitive and the social perspective)
The Value of Animal Models in Psychology Research

6. The Value of Animal Models in Psychology Research
Premack (2007)
Argued that in order to prevent confusing similarities with equivalence, we need to focus on the important areas of difference between humans and animals relevant to psychological research.
Every time we find a similarity, we need to figure out the dissimilarities as well
Examples:
Teaching: animals predominantly teach one thing – eating, while in humans the targets of teaching are very diverse.
Short-term memory: a chimp has the same limit for the number of units it can remember without rehearsing as a human being – about seven.
Ex. 8, 3, 6, 4, 6 , 9, 2 – both humans & chimps will be able to remember this
Ex. 54, 24, 17, 14, 88 – for humans, this is a sequence of five units, whereas for a chimp, it is a sequence of 10 units.
They are unable to “chunk” like humans can.
So their short-term memory is similar to ours on some level, but not equivalent.
The Value of Animal Models in Psychology Research

7. The Value of Animal Models in Psychology Research
Summary of some advantages and disadvantages of working with animal models.
Advantages:
Humans & animals are identical in many ways, both in terms of brain structure and genetically
Studies with animal models do produce results: useful models of human behavior and life- saving treatments have been developed based on animal experimentation.
Insulin was discovered in an experiment where dogs had their pancreas removed
Animal studies allow researchers to embrace the full lifespan.
Lab mice live 2-3 years ad this presents an opportunity to see their behavior across their lifespan and even across generations. Helpful in genetic research.
Animal research may be highly controlled.
Animal subjects are relatively inexpensive and easily accessible, easy to handle.
Disadvantages:
Animals & humans are never exactly the same, and we can never know the extent of the difference.
Humans and animals can differ psychologically, even if they are similar biologically.
Pyramid of generalization where mice are at the bottom and humans are at the top.
Animals may be stressed since they are tested in strictly controlled lab environments
Similar does not equal identical
Over 85 vaccines for HIV worked well in primates but all of them have failed in humans (Bailey, )
Aspirin proved dangerous for animals but it is now one of the most widely used drugs for humans
The Value of Animal Models in Psychology Research

8. Examples of Animal Research
Topic:
Brain & behavior (localization)
Study:
Lashley’s experiments with rats. Removing varying portions of the cortex to see if memory of the maze disappears.
Findings:
performance deterioration depends on the % of cortex destroyed but not on the location of the destroyed cells. Challenging the idea of localization of function for memory.
Brain & behavior (neuroplasticity)
Merzenich et al (1984): cortical representations of the hand in adult owl monkeys.
There was re-specialization of brain matter responsible for one digit so that it became responsible for other, adjacent digits.
Hormones & behavior
Romero et al (2014): the role of oxytocin in promoting social bonds in mammals in non- reproductive contexts.
Findings
Dogs were placed in a room with their owner and another dog. Dogs sprayed with oxytocin showed higher affiliation towards their owner. Similar results were observed for the other dog in the room: affiliation and approach behaviors were more frequent in the oxytocin condition.
Examples of Animal Research

9. Ethical Considerations in Animal Research
The American Psychological Association (APA) considerations that must be addressed at all stages of research involving animals:
Any animal study should be justified “with a clear scientific purpose”. One of the following justifications may be used. The study will:
Increase scientific knowledge of behavior
Increase our understanding of a particular species
Give results that will benefit humans or other animals
If non-human animals are chosen for research, it has to be ensured that the chosen species is the best choice to address the research question, the minimum required number of participants is used, and it should be assumed that whatever procedures cause pain in humans would cause pain in animals too.
All animal research proposals must be submitted to the Ethics Committee prior to conducting the study.
Psychologists and their assistants conducting the study must be familiar with the species-specific characteristics of normal behavior so that they will be able to tell when the animal is stressed or unhealthy.
Lab animals must be given humane care.
whenever, possible, the experimental procedures should be designed in a way that minimizes discomfort of the animal. APA guidelines also advise researchers to first test the painful stimuli to be used with non-human animals on themselves, whenever reasonable.
If a research animal is observed to be in distress or chronic pain and this is not necessary for the aims of the study, it should be euthanized.
Animals reared in the lab must not be released into the wild.
Ethical Considerations in Animal Research