animal ethics Flashcards
name the 8 ethical guidelines for animal research
- housing and care
- anesthesia and euthanasia
- ethics and legislation
- number of animals used
- wild animals
- suppliers
- isolation and crowding
- reward and deprivation
what is meant by ‘housing and care’?
enough food water and space
what is meant by ‘anaesthesia and euthanasia’?
protection from pain and euthanised if suffering
what is meant by ‘ethics and legislation’?
costs to the animals must be justified by the scientific benefit of the research and alternatives should be considered wherever harm is caused
what is meant by ‘number of animals’?
fewest number as possible should be used
what is meant by ‘wild animals’?
disturbance to wild animals should be minimised
what is meant by ‘suppliers’?
captive-bred animals used by the researcher should be obtained from a Home Office registered supplier
what is meant by ‘isolation and crowding’?
avoid overcrowding to reduce stress and isolation for social animals
what is meant by ‘reward and deprivation’?
- researchers should consider the animal’s usual dieting patterns
- when studying reinforcement researchers should not deprive the animal of food giving the preferred food as a reward instead
what are the 3 Rs that the Home Office require a demonstration of?
- replace (use alternative animals where possible)
- reduce (use fewest number of animals)
- refine (change procedures to minimise suffering)
what is a strength of using animal studies in research (PEEIA)?
- validity
a strength of using animal in research is that the studies are high in validity. this is because they are lab studies, done in controlled, artificial conditions. therefore, there is high control over extraneous variables such as noise so it is easier to establish a cause and effect relationship. additionally, the animals are not aware of the study so there is no risk of demand characteristics skewing the results.
what is a strength of using animals in research (PEE)?
- reliability
a strength of using animals in research is that the studies have high reliability. this is because animals have shorter gestation periods and faster breeding cycles, compared to 9 months for humans. therefore, replications can be done quickly which allows comparisons over many generations.
what is a weakness of using animals in research (PEE)?
- generalisability
a weakness of using animals in research is that the studies have low generalisability. this is because humans have much more complex biological structures such as the frontal and cerebral cortexes. therefore, findings are not representative of a human population as we cannot establish that they would behave the same way.
what is a weakness of using animals in research (PEE)?
- validity
a weakness of using animals in research is that the studies have low ecological validity. this is because they are lab studies, carried out in controlled, artificial conditions. therefore, the animals may behave differently in real life settings where extraneous variables might affect how they respond.
what is a weakness of using animals in research (PEECA)?
- ethics
a weakness of using animals in research is that there are ethical issues. for example, animals still experience pain and suffering so are not protected from harm, even though humans are. however, using animals allows us to study things that would be unethical to study in humans whilst still benefiting society.
