Animal Research in biological psychology

Question 1

What is animal research?

Answer 1

the use of non-human animals to study a psychological process that is similar to human condition

Question 2

What is an animal model?

Answer 2

a living, non-human animal used during the research and investigation of human behaviour, for the purpose of better understanding human behaviour

Question 3

What method is normally used in animal research?

Answer 3

experiments - these are often invasive procedures that involve injecting drugs or removing part of the brain or causing permanent change to the animal

Question 4

why are animal models used in psychology?

Answer 4

because they are similar to humans both genetically and physiologically. they breed faster then humans - so studied can be done in less time

Question 5

benefits of using animal psychological research

Answer 5

• provide valuable information about the functions of various parts of the brain
• it enables neuroscientists to conduct carefully controlled experiments on the relationship between brain function and behaviour.

Question 6

general procedure of animal models in research

Answer 6

• observe the animals ordinary behaviour before performing an operation that damages the brain

Question 7

Amygdala animal research
Dawner (1961)

Answer 7

Removed part of the amygdala in monkeys and cut out the optic nerve.
The monkeys received visual signals that either went to the intact amygdala or signals went to the removed amygdala.
If the monkeys had visual input that connected to the intact amygdala, they reacted in the normal way to humans = aggressive
If the visual input had no amygdala to reach, then the monkeys were much calmer.
Evidence for the amygdala being involved an aggression.

Question 8

Harlow (1962)

Answer 8

Found that young male monkeys engage in more rough and tumble play than their sisters and among human boys are more physically aggressive then girls

Question 9

Arguments for the use of animals:

Answer 9

• they are similar to us both genetically and physiologically and hence good for drug testing
• they can be used for procedures that would be considered unethical for humans e.g. isolation
  -they breed faster and age faster than animals

Question 10

Arguments against the use of animals

Answer 10

• similarities may be insufficient to generalise to human beings
• procedures that are deemed unethical for humans may cause similar suffering in non - human animals. furthermore, animals can’t communicate their distress, they can’t withdraw from the experiment and give no consent
• the results can’t really be generalised to humans