key question bio

• Intro

  -'Can the use of animals in psychological research be justified?'

  -Ethical considerations have to be made as animals are important to society

  -Without use of animals the scientific credibility of psych will be negatively effected
• Para 1 (positive)

  -Use of animals allows for 'better science'

  -standardized procedures and manipulation of variables that may be unethical to do on humans

  -e.g. Van Den Oever- allowed for tight control, audio visual cues and to see the effect of heroine on molecular composition

  -Wouldn't be possible to do on humans and has allowed for confidient conclusions and useful PA
• para 2 (positive)

  -Benefits of using animals outweigh costs

  -A lot of animal studies have led the way for further research

  -e.g. Benazzouz - sued monkeys for the inducement of parkinsons disease

  -This allowed for further research with the first patient being treated for Parkinson in 1998
• Para 3 (against)

  -Animals are similar to humans but not necessarily the exact same

  -Because animals have very different social and cognitive functions to humans leading to studies having lower generalizability

  -e.g. Ferrari- studied the link between neurotransmitters and aggression in rats, this consisted of rats fighting an 'intruder' rat everyday

  -If this was replicated with male humans they would not fight immediately if at all due to having more complex social and cognotive functions
• Para 4 (against)

  -Alternatives to animal research are improving with technology

  -Could be a better way of isolating and controlling variables

  -Could make the us of animals in some research abundant in the future

  -e.g. computer models and virtual reality