Behavioral Research With Animals
Description: This document was produced to answer the following questions: Do animals need to be used in behavioral research? What are the alternatives? What guidelines for using animals are available?
Contact: SCIENCE@APA.ORG
Date: 1994
Not all behavioral research aims at delivering benefits immediately. Much of it has the goal of generating basic knowledge from which all psychology can grow. But even such research often leads to benefits, sometimes unanticipated, as was the case with animal research leading to the development of chlorpromazine, the antipsychotic drug which has helped relieve the hopelessness of mental illness. The generation of scientific knowledge is cumulative. Basic research advances the knowledge base for both physical and mental health.
Animals Used in Psychological and Behavioral Research
Animals are used in about 7-8 percent of psychological research. Of that, 90% of the animals used are rodents and birds, principally rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters and pigeons. About 5 percent are monkeys and other primates. Psychologists rarely use dogs and cats. Relatively few behavioral studies involve pain, stress, or privation to the animals.
Are Animals Necessary?
There are important ethical and scientific reasons why animals are sometimes used in psychological and behavioral research. Although human subjects are used in most behavioral studies, there is potentially valuable research that cannot be done with humans. One example is research on drug addiction. Drugs are administered to animals in an effort to discover the behavioral and physical basis of addiction. This preliminary research cannot be done ethically with human subjects.
Animals are typically used when time requirements, risk, or other conditions make it impossible to use humans. For example, some investigations into the process of aging are not practical with humans, who live 75 to 80 years. Scientists may get deeper insight into some aspects of aging by studying rats, which live an average of two years, or monkeys which live 15 to 20 years, because the shorter life span yields crucial data on aging in a much shorter time.
Other experiments may require large numbers of subjects of the same size, weight, or genetic make-up, or may restrict subjects to special diets or confine them to a particular environment or set of events. Studies of this sort would not be possible with humans.
In animals, researchers can also observe subjects of uniform age and background, and in sufficient numbers to ensure that findings are consistent and can be applied to larger populations. One of the basic goals of behavioral research is to determine the cause of a disorder or disease. There are many factors that can affect behavior and it is often difficult to determine what causes what effect. These many factors are called variables. When using animals in research, the scientist has some control over these variables and therefore is better able to determine the cause of a disorder.
What Are the Alternatives?
Not all behavioral research directly involves animals. There are alternative ways of conducting some research, and psychologists are increasingly using them. Whenever an investigator finds it possible to use an alternative method, he or she will be motivated to do so because alternative methods not only spare the animals but may also be faster and less expensive.
Computers are widely used. But even a computer programmed to model a rat's behavior must be based on actual knowledge obtained by studies of rats' behavior. All behavioral science is rooted in direct observation of humans and animals. The reactions of a whole organism are essential to understanding the interaction of various body systems and behavior.
Some persons ask why tissue cultures are not used instead of animals. Tissue cultures never develop depression, alcoholism, autism or learning disorders, memory impairments, aggressive behavior, social abnormalities or problems that psychologists study, and that is why they are rarely useful to behavioral scientists.
Natural Settings. Others may ask why animals can't be studied in the wild rather than in the laboratory. Psychologists do observe and study animals in natural environments.
But for many investigations, the laboratory is the only setting in which researchers can eliminate outside factors that alter results. The laboratory is also the only setting for investigating the risks humans are exposed to for example, the impacts of various types of air pollution on aspects of human health.
Assuring the Humane Care and Use of Animals in Research
There are many safeguards to assure that laboratory animals receive humane and ethical treatment. Among them are:
Federal Regulations and Guidelines
The Animal Welfare Act, most recently amended in 1985, governs the care and use of many research animals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is responsible for enforcement and periodic inspections of animal research facilities both public and private. In addition to the USDA inspections, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) exist at institutions to individually review each research proposal that will involve the use of animals. The local IACUC is required to have at least one member of the local community not affiliated with the institution as a member. The local IACUC also conducts periodic inspections of the animal research facilities. The Public Health Service has set guidelines that must be followed by all grant recipients of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (ADAMHA) -- the major sources of funding for behavioral and biomedical research.
Standards from the Scientific Community
The American Association for the Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) is nationally and internationally recognized for its accreditation program. AAALAC sets the "Gold Standard" for laboratory animal care, and serves as a guide for those research facilities seeking to assure the best conditions for their research animals.
APA Requirements and Guidelines
The American Psychological Association has a Code of Ethics that includes prescriptions for the humane and ethical treatment of research animals. All APA members are committed to uphold these principles. Failure to do so can lead to expulsion from the Association.
In addition, APA's "Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in the Care and Use of Animals" set comprehensive standards for psychologists who use animals in their research. All individuals who publish in APA journals are required to conduct their research with animals in accordance with these Guidelines.
Benefits of Animal Research?
Behavioral experiments with animals help find answers to human problems such as:
Research with animals also sheds light on basic principles of learning and cognition with breakthroughs in:
Behavioral research with animals also benefits animals by contributing to:
For more information about the use of animals in psychological research, please contact Research Ethics Officer; Science Directorate, APA; 750 First Street, NE; Washington, DC 20002-4242.
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