Ethics of animal use in psychological research

Psychological Research on Animals

Is it ethical to use animals in psychological research? The answer is yes, but that answer comes with a qualification: if the psychological research is conducted in an ethical way, in accordance with the guidelines from the American Psychological Association, and federal law, and does no harm to the animal, it then should be considered ethical.

Ethical Psychological Research on Animals is Federal Law

The American Psychological Association (APA) has published guidelines for those that have the authority in their university labs or elsewhere to conduct psychological experiments on animals. The APA insists that there be: a) "a clear scientific purpose" to the experiment; b) a reasonable expectation that the experiment will "increase knowledge of the processes underlying the evolution, development, maintenance, alteration, control, or biological significance of behavior"; c) an expectation of an "increase" of the "understanding of the species under study" and d) a report on the result that "benefit the health or welfare of humans or other animals" (Section VI.A., APA)

The APA article mentions the guidelines covered by federal law -- the Animal Welfare Act, enforced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- that require all labs and universities conducting psychological research to have an "Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee" (IACUC) review every proposal to use animals in research. Without the pre-approval of the IACUC, no animals may be obtained and no studies conducted, the APA explains.

How often are animals used in psychological research? The APA claims that about 7 or 8% of psychological research involve the use of animals; and about 90% of the animals used have been rodents and birds (mostly rats and mice and pigeons). Only 5% of animals used in psychological research are "monkeys and other primates" and the use of dogs and cats is "rare," the APA site says.

Ethical Psychological Research Project: At Carleton College, animals are used in psychological research and according to the materials presented, the scientists conducting the psychological experiments are careful to follow federal law and APA guidelines. One particular experiment -- funded in part by a grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- conducted by Carleton College Psychology Professor Julie Neiworth, tests (through comparison) the face-processing system of humans and a "non-human primate species" (tamarin, a squirrel-sized New World monkey). The purpose is to determine whether the "face-processing system of humans" and in this case, the tamarin, share characteristics.

By finding out if humans' face-processing systems and the face-processing systems of the tamarin are similar, the researchers will be more readily be able to allow "early and quick processing of socially salient stimuli" (Neiworth, et al., 2003). Do humans and primate share sensitivity toward "conspecific faces" (i.e., faces of the same species), and do they share an ability to "generalize changes in the face that do not suggest a new identity" (Neiworth). The researchers presented the subjects (a human and taramin) with "a human face, chimpanzee face, taramin face, or an object as a sample." The faces were either in an upright position, or inverted in the next phase of the research.