Research Methods in Life Sciences Commons^™

An Evaluation Of The Us High Production Volume (Hpv) Chemical-Testing Programme: A Study In (Ir)Relevance, Redundancy And Retro Thinking, Andrew Nicholson, Jessica Sandler, Troy Seidle

Experimentation Collection

Under the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge Programme, chemical companies have volunteered to conduct screening-level toxicity tests on approximately 2800 widely-used industrial chemicals. Participating companies are committed to providing available toxicity information to the EPA and presenting testing proposals for review by the EPA and posting on the EPA Web site as public information. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and a coalition of animal protection organisations have reviewed all the test plans submitted by the participating chemical companies for compliance with the original HPV framework, as well as with animal welfare guidelines …

Behavioral Evaluation Of The Psychological Welfare And Environmental Requirements Of Agricultural Research Animals: Theory, Measurement, Ethics, And Practical Implications, Lesley A. King

Experimentation Collection

The welfare of agricultural research animals relies not only on measures of good health but also on the presence of positive emotional states and the absence of aversive or unpleasant subjective states such as fear, frustration, or association with pain. Although subjective states are not inherently observable, their interaction with motivational states can be measured through assessment of motivated behavior, which indicates the priority animals place on obtaining or avoiding specific environmental stimuli and thus allows conclusions regarding the impact of housing, husbandry, and experimental procedures on animal welfare. Preference tests and consumer demand models demonstrate that animal choices are …

Toxicology And New Social Ethics For Animals, Bernard E. Rollin

Experimentation Collection

The issue of animal treatment has emerged as a major social concern over the past three decades. This ramified in a new ethic for animal treatment that goes beyond concern about cruelty and attempts to eliminate animal pain and suffering, whatever its source. This is evidenced by laws governing animal research in many countries. Insofar as toxicology can entail significant and prolonged animal suffering, it is at loggerheads with this new ethic. Ways are suggested for the toxicological community to put itself in harmony with the ethic and thereby preserve its autonomy.

Animal Protection And Medical Science, David O. Wiebers, Jennifer Leaning, Roger D. White

Experimentation Collection

Over the past decade, the debate concerning animal use in biomedical research, education, and testing has contributed to an environment of public posturing on both sides. Many in the medical and animalprotection communities have come to view one another as adversaries with hopelessly different goals.

In the face of rapid and substantial increases in public concern over the wellbeing of animals, many in the medical community have sought to fend off what they see as an increasingly threatening social trend. Those who have spoken out on behalf of various medical organisations or institutions have generally been avid animal-research advocates. Those …

A New Invasiveness Scale: Its Role In Reducing Animal Distress, Kenneth J. Shapiro, Peter B. Field

Experimentation Collection

No abstract provided.

The Case Against The Use Of Animals In Science, Donald J. Barnes

Experimentation Collection

As a scientist long committed to the understanding, prediction, and control of biological, physiological, and behavioral events, I have no objection to the animal as a legitimate focus of science. As a parent, a son, a sibling, and the proud recipient of unconditional positive regard from a few special people, I am vitally interested in matters of health and in the most ethically efficient use of available resources. As a member of a species which has evolved sufficiently to allow the relatively broad perspective of a "web of life" and at least a rudimentary concept of altruism, I have laboriously …

Three Blind Mice, See How They Run: A Critique Of Behavioral Research With Animals, Michael A. Giannelli

Experimentation Collection

Animal research has been a traditionally accepted and respected part of modern psychology from its earliest days. The prevalent view of animals in contemporary psychology has origins far more basic than the scientific method. Its roots are deeply imbedded in Judaeo-Christian culture, a tradition which postulates a wide gulf between humankind and the animal world. The Darwinian revolution and the ethological outlook it fostered, while of immense biological significance, has for the most part been neglected by modern American comparative psychologists in favor of a positivistic-behaviorist orientation with a heavy reliance upon laboratory experimentation.

In recent years, opposition to animal …

Vivisection And Misanthropy, George P. Cave

Experimentation Collection

Goodman recognizes that it is reasonable to question whether all experiments performed on animals really contribute to human welfare, and he even concedes that the use of animals in laboratories "could no doubt be reduced further without harm to humankind." On the other hand, it is quite clear that he is completely unaware of the sheer quantity of absolutely worthless experiments currently being conducted, ,and that he subscribes to the popular misconception, deliberately perpetrated by the research establishment, that animal experimentation is coextensive with biomedical research, thereby contributing directly to human welfare through the conquering of disease. Furthermore, Goodman seems …

Biomedical Research And Animal Welfare: Traditional Viewpoints And Future Directions, Franklin M. Loew

Experimentation Collection

It has been twenty years since C.P. Snow first presented the concept of "The Two Cultures"; referring to the "culture" of scientists and the "culture" of literary intellectuals (mainly writers), Snow said (1969):

... constantly I felt I was moving among two groups- comparable in intelligence, identical in race, not grossly different in social origin, earning about the same incomes, who had almost ceased to communicate at all, who in intellectual, moral and psychological climate had so little in common ...

In some ways, "Two Cultures" goes far to characterize the current state of affairs surrounding those whose scientific endeavors …

Scientific Issues And Regulation Of Primate Use, Andrew N. Rowan

Experimentation Collection

Some of the patterns of use of nonhuman primates in the USA and Europe are outlined and a few specific examples of inappropriate and/or unnecessary use are described. The primate research resources program in the USA is examined and some suggestions as to how the program could be made more responsive to humane and conservation concerns are presented.