The Use of Animals in Research (HL IB Psychology)

An animal model is the use of animals in research to provide insight into human behaviour.

b.

Around 29 million animals per year are used in experiments in the USA and the EU

Rats and mice make up around 80% of the total number of animals used in research.

True.

The use of animals in experiments has fallen by half in the past 30 years due to the increase in ethical considerations and progression of technology.

• The behaviourist approach draws strongly from animal models e.g. Pavlov's dogs and classical conditioning; Skinner's rats and operant conditioning

• The biological approach also draws strongly from animal models e.g. the use of pigeons, mice and rats in understanding drug tolerance and addiction

True.

A valid argument for using animal research is that some animal studies involve injection of hormones, lesioning part of the brain or implementing genetic modification. These techniques would be unethical to use on humans but they may provide scientific breakthroughs.

Possible moral and ethical arguments for not using animals in research:

• causing distress to the animal

• depriving the animal of their natural environment

• the assumption that an animal life is less valuable than a human life

The findings of animal research cannot be completely generalised to humans as humans are more sophisticated in terms of their cognitions, motivations and higher-order thinking.