(a)Outline the reasons why psychologists might choose to use non-human animals in their research. (b) Outline how animals have been used in two different areas of research. (c) Assess the problems of using animals in psychological research.
             Psychologists choose to use non-human animals in their research because they are fascinating to study in their own right, their development of ethology (the biological study of behaviour) has been based on such goals although some of the methods used are also open to ethical concerns. One of the most common ways of experimenting in the field of psychology with non-human animals is to apply electric shocks. But not everyone agrees with this form of study.
             The essence of the practical argument into why animals shouldn't be used is that animal experiments would not tell us anything of any value about human behaviour because of the dissimilarities between humans and non-humans. According to Cardwell the extreme ethical position may contend that pain or distress is never justifiable in animal research regardless of the benefits of human mankind. If they are used to tell us something about human behaviour then there should be no sufficient similarity between brains and behaviour. If not then the case for studying animals to gain insights into human behaviour would be very weak indeed. Critics will sugest that assumed similarities just do not exist. Under ethical considerations the question that must be asked about knowledge is investigators must consider whether the knowledge to be gained justifies the procedure if animals are constrained, harmed or stressed in any way. Whenever possible alternatives to animal experiments should be considered.
             Peter Singer author of the article 'Animal Liberation' believes that in the case of the study performed by Harlow in 1965 the monkeys used suffered total maternal deprivation. During the experiment Harlow and Suomi reared the female monkeys i...