Non-human animals

• Weigh up conflict


  Wider benefits for society to potential harm
• Focus

  • Psychological research rather than cosmetic testing
  • Objective, evidence based on arguments rather than emotionally fuelled diatribes
• BPS guidelines for psychologists working with animals

  • Conform to current legislation
  • 3R's replace, refinement and reduce
  • Reduce number of animals used, refine procedure so they suffer less
  • Replace animals when possible
• Replace animals when possible

  • Cell test
  • Epidemiology
  • Computer generation
• Species that are suitable for research

  Suitable for research
• Be aware of animals' previous experience


  Responsibility of care extends to when animals are not being studied, companions for animals
• Attention to procedures that may cause pain

  Ensure they are critically evaluated and alternatives considered
• Food intake

  Normal intake and metabolic requirements met
• Animal act (1986)


  1. Research with non-human animals is only permitted by licenced researchers on licenced projects

  2. Granted by home office if: knowledge gain justifies harm/distress to animal participants, research can't be done without non-human animals, discomfort/ suffering kept to a minimum by appropriate anaesthetics or painkillers
• Act on relates to

  • Vertebrates who are more than halfway through their gestation period
  • Octopus (invertebrate) was added in 1993
  • Primates, cats, dogs and horses have additional protection
• Comparative psychology


  Study on non-human animals with intent to make comparison with humans
• Comparative psychology


  • Harlow- cloth/wire mother. Importance of comfort rather than feeding
• Harm from comparative psychology

  Emotionally maladjusted adults who couldn't socialise with other monkeys and rejected their own infants
• Benefits from comparative psychology

  Great influence on understanding infant emotional support- feeding alone wasn't the basis of caregiver and infant bond, also be used to benefit animal lives in captivity or breeding programmes for species in extinction
• Ethological psychology


  Study animals in a way that doesn't effect their behaviour, observing them in their natural environment with minimal interference
• Ethological psychology

  • Lorenz (1935) - imprinting. Influence in understanding emotional development
  • Fossey (1983) - Gorillas. Famous through film Gorillas in the mist
• Use as a therapeutic device


  Pets reduce stress, presence of pets reduce BP when children reading aloud, buffered elderly against life event stresses and reduced cardiovascular risk
• Animal Assisted Therapy

  1. Dogs/cats/fish/horses as 'behavioural facilitators'

  2. Bond developed through physical interactions such as grooming/ feeding

  3. Verbal interactions like commands

  4. Aim to transfer social skills learned with animals with humans
• Animal-client relationship


  Used to explore sensitive issues and discuss painful experiences
• Friedman and Son reviewed 28 studies using AAT, beneficial effects for emotional problems including schizophrenia, developmental disabilities, and Down Syndrome
• Anestis reviewed 14 studies of equine therapy (horse), methodological issues- small samples, no control and no random allocation to treatment group. Benefits may be due to therapist treatment not animals (same for any therapy it's the relationship not intervention)
• Speciesism


  Discrimination on basis on species is no different than gender/racial discrimination, similar to sexism or racism
• Gray's view on speciesism


  We have duty of care to humans so speciesism isn't equivalent to racism
• Animal rights


  Rights dependant on responsibility in society. Animal have no responsibility = they have no rights
• Regan's view is that under no circumstances is animal research acceptable. Absolutist view- rights to be treated with respect and should never be used in research
• Singer's utilitarian view

  If animal research can alleviate pain and suffering it's justifiable