plous - attitudes toward the use of animals in psychological research and education

7/23/2019 Plous - Attitudes Toward the Use of Animals in Psychological Research and Education

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Att itudes Tow ard the U se of A nim als in PsychologicalResearch a nd E ducat ion

Resu l t s F rom a N a t ion a l Su r vey o f Psycho log istsS . P i o u sWesleyan Univers it y

An im al research has p laye d a cen tra l ro le in psycho logy ,ye t i t s c l in ica l va lue and e th ica l p ropr ie ty have recen t lycom e unde r a t tack . In an e f fo rt to assess curren t th ink ingon th i s con trovers ia l sub jec t , a ma i l survey was sen tt o 5 ,0 0 0 r a n d o m l y s e l e c t e d m e m b e r s o f t h e A m e r i c a nP s y c h o l o g i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n . R e s p o n s e s w e r e r e ce i v e df r o m 3 ,9 8 2 i n d i v i d u a ls , a n d t h e r e su l t s s h o w e d (a )ma j o r i t y s u p p o r t f o r a n i m a l s t u d i e s i n v o lv i n g o b s er -v a t i on o r c o n f i n e me n t , b u t d i s a p p r o v a l o f s tu d i e s i n -v o l v in g p a i n o r d e a th ; (b ) ma j o r i t y s u p p o r t f o r ma n -d a t o r y p a i n a s s e s s m e n t s a n d t h e f e d e r a l p r o te c t io n o fra t s , mice , p igeons , and rep t i l es ; and (c ) ma jor i ty sup-p o r t f o r t h e u s e o f a n i ma l s i n t ea c h i n g , b u t o p p o s i t io nt o a n a n i m a l l a b o ra t o r y r e q u i r e m e n t f o r t h e p sy c h o l o g yma j o r . A d d i t i o n a l f i n d i n g s a n d p o l i c y i m p l i c a t i o n s a r ed iscussed .

T h e u s e o f a n i m a l s h a s b e e n a n d c o n t i n u e s t o b e e s s e n t i a l . . .i n a pp l i e d r e s e a r c h w i t h d i r e c t c l in i c a l a pp l ic a t i ons i n hum a nsa nd a n i ma l s .- - A m e r i c a n A s s o c ia t io n f o r t h e A d v a n c e m e n t o f S c i e n ce ( 1 9 90 )

T h e q u o t a t i o n a b o v e , t a k e n f r o m a j o i n t r e s o l u t i o ne n d o r s e d b y t h e A m e r i c a n P s y c h o l o g i c a l A s s o c i a t i o n( A P A ) i n 1 9 9 0, r e p r e s e n t s t h e f e e li n gs o f m a n y p s y c h o l -o g i st s . A s M i l l e r ( 1 9 8 5 ) p o i n t e d o u t i n a t r e n c h a n t d e f e n s eo f a n i m a l r e s e a r c h i n p s y c h o l o g y , b e h a v i o r a l r e s e a r c h o na n i m a l s h a s la i d t h e f o u n d a t i o n f o r b r e a k t h r o u g h s i n t h et r e a t m e n t o f d r u g a d d i c t i o n , ' a n x i e t y d i s o r d e rs , p h o b i a s ,u r i n a r y i n c o n t i n e n ce , a n d r u m i n a t i v e v o m i t i ng . A n i m a lm o d e l s h a v e a l s o b e e n u s e d t o s t u d y t h e n e u r a l b a s e s o fs c h i z o p h r e n i a , d e p r e s s io n , r e t r o g r a d e a m n e s i a , a n d ar a n g e o f o t h e r p sy c h o lo g i c al p h e n o m e n a ( D o m j a n &P u r d y , 1 9 95 ) . In d e e d , r e s e a r c h o n a n i m a l s h a s p l a y e d ac e n t r a l r o le i n p s y c h o l o g y t h r o u g h o u t m o s t o f t h e 2 0 t hc e n t u r y .

I n r e c e n t y e a r s , h o w e v e r , s o m e p s y c h o l o g i s t s h a v eq u e s t i o n e d t h e c l in i c al v a l u e o f l a b o r a t o r y r e s e a r c h o na n i m a l s . F o r e x a m p l e , K e l l y ( 1 9 8 6 ) e x a m i n e d 3 , 2 9 3 c i-t a t i o n s i n t h e 1 9 8 4 v o l u m e o f t h e J o u r n a l o f C o n s u l ti n gand Cl in ica l Psycho logy ( th e l e a d in g A P A j o u r n a l d e v o t e dt o t r e a tm e n t b r e a k t h r o u g h s ) a n d f o u n d t h a t 9 9 .7 % d i dn o t r e fe r to l a b o r a t o r y a n i m a l r e s ea r c h . H e a l so e x a m i n e dt h e 1 9 8 4 v o l u m e o f Beha vior Therapy, a j o u r n a l t h a t s p e -

c i al iz e s i n b e h a v i o r a l i n t e r v e n t i o n r e s e a r c h a n d w o u l dt h e r e f o r e b e e x p e c t e d t o r e l y h e a v i l y o n t h e r e s u l t s o fa n i m a l s t u d ie s . H e r e a g a i n , th o u g h , a n i m a l r e s e a r c h w a sr a r e l y c i te d . O f 1 , 1 3 2 c i t a t i o n s i n Behavior Therapy, o n l y2 . 0 % r e f e r r e d t o a n i m a l s t u d i e s . G i a n n e l l i ( 1 9 8 6 ) l i k e w i s ef o u n d t h a t o n l y 7 o f t h e 1 1 8 s tu d i e s c i t e d b y M i l l e r ( 1 9 8 5 )a p p e a r e d i n t h e f i v e - v o l u m e r e f e r e n c e l is t s o f t h e A s s o -c i a t io n f o r A d v a n c e d T r a i n i n g i n t h e B e h a v i o r a l S c i e n c e s( a c o m p r e h e n s i v e c o u r s e f o r t h e n a t i o n a l l i c e n su r e e x -a m i n a t i o n i n p s y c h o l o g y ). T h u s , i t i s u n c l e a r h o w o f t e nc l i n ic a l i n v e s t i g a t o r s a c t u a l l y u s e t h e r e s u l t s o f a n i m a lr e s e a r c h ( a t l ea s t, a s r e f l e c t e d b y t h e r e s u l t s o f c i ta t i o na n a l y s i s ) .

I n a d d i t i o n , s e v e r al p s y c h o l o g i s t s h a v e c r it i c i z e d a n -i m a l r e s e a r c h o n e th i c a l g r o u n d s ( B o w d & S h a p i r o , 1 9 9 3 ;R o b i n s o n , 1 9 9 0 ; U l r i c h , 1 9 9 1 ). A r e c e n t a r t ic l e b y t w ob o a r d m e m b e r s o f P s yc h o lo g i st s fo r t h e E t h i c a l T r e a t m e n to f A n i m a l s , A l a n B o w d a n d K e n n e t h S h a p i r o , i ll u s tr a te st h i s li n e o f c r i t i c is m . I n t h e i r a rt i c le , B o w d a n d S h a p i r o( 1 9 9 3 ) a r g u e d t h a tI n t e r e s t s a nd r i gh ts a r e no t t he s o l e p r e s e r ve o f t he hu m a n s pe -c ie s , a nd s hou l d be e va l ua t e d c ons i s t e n tl y a nd w i t h due c ons i d -e r a t i on t o a n a n i m a l ' s c a pa c i t y t o s u ff er . Ou r e t h i c a l ob l i ga t ionsextend to individuals wh o are inte llectua lly unab le to rec iprocatet he m, w i t h i n a nd be yond ou r own s pe c i e s . Thos e who wou l da c c o r d r i gh t s to h um a n be ings bu t d e ny t he m t o a l l o t he r spe ci esEditor's note. MelissaG. W arren served as action editor for this article.A parallel survey was distributed to a national sample o f psychologymajors, and the results are being published simultaneously in S. P ious(1996), Attitudes toward the use of animals in psychological researchand education: Results from a national survey of psychology majors.Psychological Science. 7, 352-358.Author's note . T h i smaterial is based on w ork supported by the NationalScience Foundation under Grant SBR-9320062.I wish to thank all of he respond ents who participated in this studyfor taking t ime out of their busy schedules. I am also deeply indebtedto Lourdes Chen, Geoffrey Urbaniak, and Joshua Turknett for theirassistance with surv ey preparation and d ata entry; to do zens of colleaguesand students for their feedback and for their ratings of the survey form ;to B arbara Orlans and A ndrew Rowan for their comments on a previousdraft o f this art icle; and above all , to Diane Ersepke for her help withall phases of the work.Correspondence concerning this art icle should be addressed toS. Pious, Department of Psychology, Wesleyan University, 207 HighStreet, M iddletown, CT 06459-0408. Electronic ma il may be sent viaInternet to [email protected].

N o v e m b e r 1 9 9 6 A m e r i c a n P s y c h ol o g is tCopyright 1996 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. 0003-06 6X/9 6/$2 .00Vol. 51, No. 11, 1167- tl8 0

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$. Piousmust make th e case that there is a m orally relevant differenceseparating Homo sapiens from oth er creatures. We do not believesuch a difference exists . . . To base ethical decisions on speciesmembership al o n e .. , is as arbitrary as relying on skin coloror gender in hiring decisions. (p. 136)No t long ago , such v iews would have been d ismissed byma ny psychologis ts . Ye t dur ing the pas t 20 yea rs , the rehas been an u npreceden ted growth in concern over an imalr ights and anim al welfare . In an analysis of the scientif icl i te ra ture, Phi l l ips and Sechzer (1989) found tha t a r t icle son an imal we lfa re quad ruple d fo l lowing passage of the1966 A nimal Welfa re Ac t . According to Jaspe r and Ne lk in(1992), 10-15 mi l l ion Amer ican s now be long to a t leas tone an imal we lfa re group, and one in f ive Amer icansc l a im s t o h a v e d o n a t e d m o n e y to a n a n im a l p r o t e c t i o norganiza tion. In fact , by the end of the 1980s, Congresswas receiv ing mor e le t te r s abou t an ima l we lfa re than anyoth er topic (Fox, 1990) . Betwe en 1987 and 1995, ap-proxim ate ly one fo ur th of s tate legis la tures in t rodu cedbi l ls to s top the use o f an imals in educa t io n , and severa laddi t iona l s ta te and fede ra l b i l l s were in t roduced to re -str ic t animal research (Rowan & Loew, 1995) .I t i s ha rd to a ssess the im pac t of th is sh i f t in concernfor an imals . N ever the less , whe the r for r easons of cos t ,inc reased regula t ion , an im al r igh ts , o r o the r f ac tors , an-ima l r e sea rch does seem to be on the dec l ine. Dur i ng thepas t 20 yea rs, the num ber of an imals used in re sea rchwor ldwide has fal len by an es t ima ted 30-50 % (Rowan &Loew, 1995) . This decline in animal use includes a 38%reduc t ion in Canada be tween 1977 and 1989, a 46% re -duc t ion in the Ne the r lands be tween 1978 and 1991, a30% reduc t ion in Grea t Br i ta in be tween 1980 and 1990,a 55% reduc t ion in I ta ly be tween 1978 and 1989, and a50% reduc t ion in Swi tze r land be tween 1980 and 1990(Orlans, 1994; Rowan, 1994) . In the United States, the

num ber of an imals used in re sea rch has fa l len by as muchas 50% s ince the mid-1970s (a l though i t should be notedtha t th is e s t ima te i s somewha t specula tive , because ra ts ,mice , and b i rds a re not tabula ted und er the U.S . AnimalWelfare Act; Rowan, 1994) .A downward t r end in an imal use i s a lso apparentwi th in psychology. In a survey of more tha n 2 00 psy-chology gradua te dep ar tmen ts in the Uni te d S ta te s, Ga l -lup and Edd y (1990) found tha t 15% of the depar tm entshad c losed the i r an imal f aci l it ies , and an othe r 19% hadhe ld se r ious d iscuss ions about doing so . Benedic t andSto lof f ( 1991) cond uc ted a s imi la r survey o f "Ame r ica ' sbes t co l leges" (137 top- ra ted schools wi thout doc tora lprograms) and fo und com parable re su l ts : 21% of the psy-chology depar tments had c losed the i r an imal f ac i l i t ie s ,a r id an addi t iona l 18% of depar tmen ts h ad se r ious ly d is -cussed closing them. And a paralle l decline is taking placein Grea t Br i ta in . In a com prehens iv e survey of Br i t i shp sy c h o lo g y d e p a r tm e n t s , T h o m a s a n d B la c k m a n ( 1 9 9 2 )found a 25% decrease s ince 1977 in the nu mb er o f de -pa r tm ents tha t m a in ta ine d an im al f ac i li t ie s , a 35% dropin psychology facul ty conduc t ing an imal r e sea rch , a 62%reduc t ion of gradua te s tudents engaged in an imal r e -sea rch , and a 70% dec l ine in the num ber of an imals usedin research.Has the re been a con com itan t loss of publ ic suppo r tfor an imal r e sea rch? To da te , no n a t ionwid e surveys havespec if ica l ly exam ined a t t i tudes toward the use o f an imalsin psychology, bu t publ ic opin ion pol ls on b iomedica lre sea rch have shown a modes t dec l ine in sup por t for an-ima l exper imenta t ion . Surveys by Ga l lup and the Na-t iona l Opin ion Resea rch Cente r sugges t tha t su ppor t foranimal r e sea rch in medic ine has fa llen by approxim ate ly20% since the la te 1940s (Am erican M edical Association,1989; Row an & Loew, 1995). Addition al evidenc e of adec l ine in suppor t for an imal r e sea rch has come f rom ase r ie s of four opin ion pol ls conduc ted for the Na t iona lScience Board (1991; Pifer , Shimizu, & Pifer , 1994) . Inthese poll s , r e spondents were a sked w he the r they agreedor d isagreed wi th the fo l lowing s ta tement : "Sc ien t i s t sshould be a l lowed to do re sea rch tha t causes pa in andin jury to an imals like dogs and ch imp anz ees / f i t p roducesn e w in f o r m a t io n a b o u t h u m a n h e a l t h p r o b l e m s . " B e -tween 1985 and 1993, the pe rcentage of re spondentsagree ing wi th th is s ta tem ent f el l f rom 63% to 53%.Relative to 50 years ago, the pub lic tod ay is also lessconf ident tha t labora tory an imals a re t r ea ted humane ly .In 1948, 75% o f the publ ic be l ieved tha t medica l schoolst rea ted labora tory an imals a s we l l a s ind iv idua l ownerswould (Na t iona l Opin ion Resea rch Cente r , 1948) . Backthen , t rus t in the b iomedica l r e sea rch com mu ni ty was sohigh tha t nea r ly ha l f of the publ ic (49%) fe l t r e sea rchrules and regulations were unnecessary. By 1989, however,only 33% of the publ ic thought th a t "an imals used inmedica l and pharmaceut ica l r e sea rch [a re ] t r ea ted hu-m a n e ly " ( c o m p a r e d w i th 4 9 % w h o th o u g h t v e a l c a lv e sa r e t r e a t e d h u m a n e ly ; A n im a l I n d u s t r y F o u n d a t io n ,1989) . A s imi la r survey conduc ted in 1985 found tha tonly 40% of r e spondents thought an imals used in medica l

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r e s e a r c h a r e t r e a t e d " f a i r l y " o r " v e r y " c o n s i d e r a t e l y( F o u n d a t i o n f o r B i o m e d i c a l R e s e a r c h , 1 9 8 5 ) .T h i s s k e p t i c i s m t o w a r d a n i m a l r e s e a r c h i s n o t l i m -i t e d t o t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . A 1 9 8 9 n a t i o n a l s u r v e y in G r e a tB r i t a i n f o u n d t h a t 5 0 % o f r e s p o n d e n t s t h o u g h t s c i e n t if i ce x p e r i m e n t s o n a n i m a l s w e re m o r a l ly w r o n g - - m o r e t h a nt h e p e r c e n t a g e w h o d i s a p p r o v e d o f p o r n o g r a p h y , a b o r -t i o n , o r c a p i t a l p u n i s h m e n t ( J a c o b s & W o r c e s t er , 1 9 9 0 ).A c c o r d i n g t o a 1 9 9 0 G a l l u p p o l l , 5 0 % o f t h e B r i t i s h p u b l i ca n d 7 0 % o f B r it i sh 1 "6 - t o 2 4 - y e a r - o l d s t h o u g h t a n i m a le x p e r i m e n t s s h o u l d b e b a n n e d o r f u r t h e r r e s t r i c t e d( " M a n ' s M i r r o r , " 1 9 9 1) . I n d e e d , a re c e n t c r o s s - c u l tu r a ls t u d y o f 1 5 n a t i o n s f o u n d t h a t C a n a d a a n d m o s t E u r o -p e a n c o u n t r i e s e x c e e d th e U n i t e d S t a t e s i n o p p o s i t i o n t oa n i m a l r e s e a r c h ( P i f e r e t a l ., 1 9 9 4 ) .

A l t h o u g h t h is l e v el o f o p p o s i t io n m a y a p p e a r t ot h r e a t e n t h e f u t u r e o f a n i m a l r e s e a r c h , a t l e a s t t h r e e p i e c e so f s u r v e y e v id e n c e r u n c o u n t e r t o s u c h a c o n c l u s io n . F i rs t ,s u p p o r t f o r r e s e a rc h o n r a ts a n d m i c e - - w h i c h c o m p r i s et h e m a j o r i t y o f a n i m a l r e s e a r c h s u b j e c t s - - i s s u b s t an t i a ll yh i g h e r t h a n s u p p o r t f o r r e s e a r c h o n d o g s , c a t s, a n d p r i -m a t e s ( D r is c o l l, 1 9 9 2) . F o r e x a m p l e , a p u b l i c o p i n i o np o l l b y t h e A s s o c i a t e d P r e s s (1 9 8 5 ) f o u n d 8 8 % a p p r o v a lf o r t h e u s e o f r at s in m e d i c a l e x p e r i m e n t s , c o m p a r e d w i t ho n l y 5 5 % f o r d o g s. S e c o n d , a c c o r d i n g t o s e v e r a l p o ll ss p o n s o r e d b y t h e A m e r i c a n M e d i c al A s s o c ia t io n , m o r et h a n t h r e e q u a r t e r s o f th e p u b l i c b e li e v e " t h e u s e o f a n -i m a l s i n m e d i c a l r e s e a r c h i s n e c e s s a r y f o r p r o g r e s s i nm e d i c i n e " ( e .g ., A m e r i c a n M e d i c a l A s s o c i a ti o n , 1 9 8 9) .I n o t h e r w o r d s , m o s t m e m b e r s o f t h e p u b l ic r e j e c t t h ea n i m a l r ig h t s a r g u m e n t t h a t a n i m a l r e s e a rc h i s u n n e c -e s sa r y. T h i r d , s u p p o r t f o r a n i m a l r e s e a r c h i n c re a s e s w h e nt h e o u t c o m e o f r e s e a r c h i s s p e c i fi c a ll y t i e d t o h u m a nh e a l t h . F o r i n s ta n c e , 7 8 % o f r e s p o n d e n t s i n o n e s u r v e ys a i d th e y w o u l d s u p p o r t a n i m a l r e s e a r c h i f i t w e r e t h eo n l y w a y t o f i n d a c u r e f o r A I D S ( G r o l l e r , 1 9 9 0 ).

O f c o u rs e , psychological r e s e a r c h o n a n i m a l s i s n o td i r e c t e d a t c u r i n g d i s e a s e s s u c h a s A I D S , s o i t is u n c l e a rw h e t h e r p u b l i c s u p p o r t f o r a n i m a l r e s e a r c h i n p s y c h o l o g ye v e r r e a c h e s t h i s le v e l. O n e t h i n g i s d ef in i te , h o w e v e r - -i f a n i m a l r e s e a r c h i s t o c o n t i n u e i n p s y c h o l o g y , it w i llr e q u i r e t h e s u p p o r t o f t h e p r o f e s s io n a l c o m m u n i t y . G i v e nt h i s b a s ic f a c t , i t is s u ~ r i s i n g t h a t n o l a rg e - s c al e s u r v e y sh a v e l o o k e d a t p s y c h o l o g i s t s' a tt i tu d e s t o w a r d t h e u s e o fa n i m a l s i n p s y c h o l o g y . T h e o n l y s u r v e y p u b l i s h e d o n t h i st o p i c is a b r i e f r e p o r t o f a s t u d e n t p r o j e c t , a n d , u n f o r -t u n a t e l y , t h e r e s u l t s o f t h i s s t u d y w e r e l i m i t e d b y a r e t u r nr a t e o f l es s t h a n 5 0 % a n d n o i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h e r e p r e -s e n t a t iv e n e s s o f th e s a m p l e ( H u s k e y , 1 9 9 1) .T h e p r e s e n t a r t i c le r e p o r t s th e r e s u l t s o f a n a t i o n w i d es u r v e y o n p s y c h o l o g i s t s' a t ti t u d e s t o w a r d t h e u s e o f a n i -m a l s i n p s y c h o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h a n d t e a c h i n g . A m a i l s u r -v e y o n t h is t o p i c w a s s e n t t o a r a n d o m s a m p l e o f 5 ,0 0 0A P A m e m b e r s i n t h e f a ll o f 1 9 9 4, a n d a p p r o x i m a t e l y8 0 % o f t h o s e c o n t a c t e d t o o k p a r t i n t h e s t u d y . T h e f o c u so f t h e s u r v e y w a s o n t h r e e m a i n t o p i c s : (a ) th e u s e o fa n i m a l s i n p s y c h o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h , ( b ) r e s e a r c h r e g u l a t i o n sa n d t h e h u m a n e c a r e o f a n i m a l s , a n d ( c ) t h e u s e o f a n i m a l si n u n d e r g r a d u a t e p s y c h o l o g y c l as s es . A p a r a ll e l s u r v e y

w a s a l so d i s t r ib u t e d t o a n a t i o n a l s a m p l e o f p s y c h o l o g ym a j o r s ; i n t e r e s t e d r e a d e r s s h o u l d s e e P io u s ( 1 9 9 6 ) f o r ar e p o r t o f t h a t s t u d y.M e t h o dP a r t i c i p a n t sT he sampl e f r am e f o r th i s s t udy cons i st ed o f a ll AP A m ember s ,fel lows, and associa tes residing in the Un ited States. Fro m thisf rame, a s imple rand om sam ple of 5,000 individuals was drawnby t he AP A Of fi ce o f Demogr aph i c , E m pl oym ent , and E d uca -t ional Research. For ty-eight of these APA m em bers proved tobe un reachab le for var ious reasons, l eaving a pool of 4,952 p o-tential respond ents. Of these individuals, 3,982 (80.4%) com -pleted a survey in t ime for inclus ion in the s tudy. As Table 1shows, the prof i le of these respond ents was s imi lar to a dem o-gr aph i c and occupa t i ona l b r eakdown o f AP A m emb er s in gen-eral. For exam ple, 43.1% o f responde nts were female , comp aredwi th 41.8% of APA as a whole; the m ean age of respond entswas 49.7 years , com pare d wi th 50.3 years for APA as a whole;and the percentage of respondents f rom univers it ies or four-yearcol leges was 23.2%, com pare d wi th 21.5% of APA as a whole .These f igures suggest that the respondents were highly repre-sentat ive of APA m em bers in general.

T a b l e 1Dem ographic Co mparison of Survey Respondents andGen eral A merican Psychological Association (APA)MembershipCharacte r is t i c Responden ts APAG e n d e r% w omen 43 .1 41 .8

% m e n 5 6 . 9 5 8 . 2M e a n a g e ( in y e a r s ) 4 9 . 7 5 0 . 3Primary employment (% of ful l - t imee m p l o y e d )Independen t p r ac t ice 38 .9 32 .3H osp i t a l - c l in i c - med ica l school 18 .8 20 .8Univers i ty or four -yea r co l lege 23.2 21.5O the r acade mic - educ a t i ona l se tt ing 7 .1 6 .2O the r ] 2 .0 ] 9 . ]Pr imary act ivi ty (% of ful l - t ime employed)Me nta l hea l th serv ices 62 .3 54 .6Research 8.5 9 .3R esearch and educa t i on 0 .7 0 .2E duca t i on - t each ing - educa t i ona l se rv ices 15 .0 ] 8 .9Mana geme n t - admin i s t ra t i on 7 .0 ] 0 .6O t h e r 6 . 6 6 . 4APA division membership ( in %)Clinical related (Division 12, 17, 29, 39,42 , o r 43 ) 28 .6 26 .8C l in ica l neu ropsy cholog y (D iv is ion 40) 5 .3 4 .7Animal research re la ted (D ivis ion 6 , 25 ,or 28 ) 2 .9 2 .9Note . APA f igu res a re f rom the 1993 AP A Di recto ry Survey, comp i led by theOf f i ce o f Demograph ic , Emp loymen t , and Educa t iona l Research , APA Educa t ionDirectorate.

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S u r v e y n s t ru m e n tIn most respects, the survey format and procedu re followed thetotal design method outlined by Dillma n (1978). The surveyappeared as a four-page booklet with the title "Ani mals & Sci-ence: A Survey of Psychologists," and the cover stated that theproject was sponsored by the Nationa l Science Foundation andconstituted "the first large-scale survey o f psychologists' opinionsconcerning the use of animals in research and teaching."On the first inside page of the survey booklet, respondentswere instructed as follows:This survey concerns the use of animals in psychological research andeducation. For present purposes, "animal research" refers only to psy-chologicalresearch on animals--not biomedical research or toxicologytesting. Although the lines are sometimes fuzzy, psychological researchshould be taken to include areas such as behavioral neuroscience, psy-chopharmacology, and psychophysiology, as well as studies of animalbehavior, perception, and cognition.After these instructions, respondents were asked a series ofquestions on their support for animal research, their use of find-ings from animal research, their attitudes and knowledge con-cerning various animal welfare regulations, and their attitudesabout the use of animals in underg raduate education (for thewording of these questions, see the Appendix). Next, an em ptytable was presented with four columns labeled Primates, Dogs,Rats , and Pigeons and thre e rows labeled Observational studiesin naturalistic settings; Research involving caging or confinement,but no physical pain or death; and Research involving physicalpain or death. Respondents were instructed toplace a "+ " in a cell when you think that psychological research isusually justified, a . .. .. in a cell when you think that psychological re-search is usually unjustified, and leave the cell blank if you do not havea strong opinion one way or the other. For present purposes, assume allresearch has been institutionally approved and deemed of scientific merit.Following this question, respondents were asked several demo-graphic and occupational questions, and they were invited tosubmit additional comments.In d e p e n d e n t R a t i n g sBecause the survey covered a controversial topic, particular carewas taken to minimize experimenter bias and social demandcharacteristics. As part of this effort, draft and final versions ofthe survey were independently rated for clarity, balance, andneutrality in tone. Independent raters were asked to provide ageneral evaluation of the survey and to answer three fixed-formatquestions: (a) "I n general, how clear are the survey questions?"Very clear/Fairly clear/N ot too clea r/Not clear at all; (b) "Inyour opinion, is the survey biased in favor of using animals inpsychological research and teaching, against using animals inresearch and teaching, or is it fairly balanced?" Biase d in favor~Biased against~Fairly balanced; and (c) "Using a numberedscale, how would you rate the tone of the survey when it comesto using animals in psychological research and teaching?" fro m1 (Against u s ing animals) to 9 (1n favor of u s ing animals) .In the first round of indepen dent ratings, an early draftof the survey was evaluated by 16 professors of psychology,2 practicing clinical psychologists, and 2 professors special-izing in public policy issues relating to anima l research. Theresults showed that 18 raters thought the survey was "very

clear" or "fairly clear" and 2 thought the survey was "nottoo clear"; 13 raters thought the survey was "fairly balanced,"3 thought it favored animal research, 2 thought it opposedanimal research, and 2 did not answer; and the mean 9-pointrating of tone was 4.6 (not significantly different from theneutral point of 5.0).On the basis of this feedback, I designed a final version ofthe survey and sent it out for additional independent ratings.This time, to minimi ze rater selection biases, I asked the earlierindependent raters to select 1-3 colleagues on their own andhave these individuals return the rating form directly to me onan ano nymous basis. In this phase of evaluation, 24 individualsprovided independent ratings. Ha lf of these raters had conductedanim al research, 11 were female and 13 were male, 14 wereAPA members, 11 were America n Psychological Society mem-bers, 5 were Society for Neuroscience members, and t heir me-dian year o f receiving a PhD was 1980. Th e results from thisround of evaluation were that 23 raters felt the survey was "veryclear" or "fairly clear" and 1 thought the survey was "not t ooclear"; 17 raters thought the survey was "fairly balanced," 2thought it favored animal research, and 5 thought it opposedanimal research; and the me an 9- point rating of tone was 5.0.These ratings indicate that the survey was generally perceivedas clear, balanced, and neutral in tone.P r o c e d u r eIn Octob er 1994, each respondent was sent a survey along witha personalized, hand-signed cover letter on university letterhead;a postage-paid, self-addressed return envelope; and a business-reply postcard with a respondent identification number. Thecover letter introduced the topic of the survey, explained thatrespondents had been chosen randomly as part o f a sample ofpsychologists from around the country, and stressed that thesurvey was strictly anonymous. The cover letter also instructedrespondents to mail back the numbere d postcar d separately "sothat we may remove your name from our mailing list," and ittold respondents that by returning the postcard they would "beentered into a drawing for a $500 cash pr iz e- -o ur way of thank-ing you for your time."One week later, respondents were sent a hand-signed re-minder postcard, encouraging them to respond and asking themto call collect for a repla cement survey if the first one had notarrived or had been misplaced. Two weeks after this, a secondsurvey booklet was sent to all respondents who had not yetreturned a numbered postcard (approxim ately half of the orig-inal sample). Each survey was again acco mpanied by a person-alized, hand-signed cover letter on university letterhead; a pos-tage-paid, self-addressed return envelope; and a business-replypostcard with a respondent identification number. The coverletter stressed the impor tance of each response, and it remind edrespondents of the $500 cash incentive and the fact that thesurvey would take very little time to complete. To heighten thepersuasive impact of this second appeal, a blue felt marker wasused to highlight the line about the survey taking very littletime, and a handwritten yellow self-stick note was attached toeach letter. The self-stick not e was personalized and said, "Pleasehelp --I really need your response."Survey responses were included in the study if they werereceived by March 1, 1995. As of that da te, 3,783 numbere dpostcards had been retur ned (95.0% of the total number o fcompleted surveys). A random drawing was then held for the$500 cash prize, and payment was sent to the respondent whosepostcard contained the winning number.

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T a b l e 2Items on General Support fo r Animal ResearchSurve y item n %Level of general support for animal researchSupport strongly 1,243 31.4Support 1,924 48.6

Opp ose 361 9.1Oppose strongly 199 5.0Note sure 230 5.8See animal research as necessaryfor progress in psychologyYes 2,736 68.9No 534 ! 3.4Not sure 703 17.7Position on funding for animal researchShould be increased 231 6.1Should be maintained 2,4 39 64.5Should be decreased 1,112 29.4

R e s u l t sMa i n A na l y s esWhen respondents were asked whether they generallysupported or opposed animal research in psychology, four

out of every five respondents expressed some level of sup-port (see Table 2). Overall, 31.4% of respondents saidthey strongly supported the use of animals in psycholog-ical research, 48.6% said they supported it, 9.1% said theyopposed it, 5.0% said they strongly opposed it, and 5.8%said they were not sure. In addit ion, 68.9% of respondentssaid animal research was necessary for progress in psy-chology (compared with only 13.4% who said it was not),and 70.6% of respondents said funding for animal researchshould be maintained or increased (compared with 29.4%who said it should be reduced). These results suggest agood deal o f support for animal research in psychology.As shown in Figure l, however, this support did notextend to experiments involving pain or death. Eventhough the research was described as "institu tionally ap-proved and deemed of scientific merit," only 17.7% ofrespondents felt that painful or terminal experiments onprimates were justified, and only 18.8% approved of suchresearch with dogs (compared with 62.1% and 60.3% ofrespondents opposed, respectively, and the remainderhaving no strong opinion one way or the other). The sametrend was apparent with research on pigeons and rats,although to a lesser extent: 29.6% of respondents approvedof painful or termina l experiments on pigeons, comparedwith 46.7% who disapproved of them, and 34.0% of re-spondents approved of painful or terminal experiments

Figure 1Margin of Support fa r Various Types of Research100

80601EO

o . 4 0- ior) - 20Ot-" ~ 0-2 0-4 0-60

Observat ion Confin ement Pain or DeathResearch Procedure Involved

Note. Respondents were give n an empt y table with four columns labeled Primates, Dogs, Rats, and Pigeons and three rows labeled Observational studies in naturalisticsettings; Research involving c aging or confinement, b ut no physical pain o r death; an d Research involving physical pain or death. They were to ld to assume that the researchwas "institutionally approved and deemed of scientific merit," and they were asked to indicate whether each type of research was usually justified or unjustified (seethe Survey Instrument section of the text). Margin of support equals the percentage of respondents saying "justified" minus the percentage of respondents saying"unjustified."

November 1996 American Psychologist 1171


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T a b l e 3Sup port for Spec i fic Types of Anim al Research

T y p e o f r e s e a r c hUsua l l y j us ti fi ed Usua l l y un jus ti fi ed No s t rong op in i o n

n % n % n %Observational studiesPrimates 3,810

Dogs 3,545Pigeons 3,414Rats 3,460Research involving caging or con finementPrimates 2 ,496Dogs 2,510Pigeons 2,922Rats 3,059Research involving pain or deathPrimates 694Dogs 73 9Pigeons 1,161Rats 1,331

96.0 23 0.6 134 3.489.4 92 2.3 329 8.386.1 128 3.2 424 10.787.3 111 2.8 394 9 .963.0 824 20.8 641 16.263.4 796 20.1 654 16.573.8 444 11.2 595 15.077.2 368 9.3 534 13.517.7 2,434 62.1 792 20.218.8 2,364 60.3 818 20.929 .6 1,829 46 .7 926 23.634.0 1,741 44.4 845 21.6

o n r a t s , c o m p a r e d w i t h 4 4 . 4 % w h o d i s a p p r o v e d o f t h e m( s ee T a b l e 3 ). E v e n a m o n g r e s p o n d e n t s w h o h a d i n d i c a t e ds u p p o r t f o r a n i m a l r e s e a r c h i n p s y c h o lo g y , t h e m a j o r i t yd i s a p p r o v e d o f p a i n f u l o r t e r m i n a l e x p e r i m e n t s o n p r i -m a t e s ( 5 4 . 5 % ) a n d d o g s ( 5 2 . 2 % ) , a n d a s i z a b l e m i n o r i t yd i s a p p r o v e d o f t h e m o n p i g e o n s ( 3 6 . 6 % ) a n d r a t s ( 34 . 2% ) .A s f o r c li n i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n s o f a n i m a l r e s e a r c h , r e l -a t iv e l y fe w m e n t a l h e a l t h w o r k e r s r e p o r t e d u s i n g f i n d in g sf r o m a n i m a l r e s e a r c h o n a f r e q u e n t b a s i s (s e e T a b l e 4 ) .O f th e r e s p o n d e n t s w h o s e p r i m a r y p r o f e s s i o n a l a c t iv i t yf o c u s e d o n m e n t a l h e a l t h s e r v i c e s , 7 . 8 % s a i d t h e y u s e df i n d in g s f r o m a n i m a l r e s e a r c h " f r e q u e n t l y " ( c o m p a r e dw i t h 1 4 .7 % o f o t h e r r e s p o n d e n t s ) , a n d 5 . 7% s a i d t h e i rw o r k w o u l d b e se r i o u sl y h a m p e r e d b y a b a n o n p s y c h o -l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h w i t h a n i m a l s ( c o m p a r e d w i t h 9 . 9 % o fo t h e r r e s p o n d e n t s ) . T h e s e n u m b e r s a r e s u r p r i s in g l y lo wi n l i g h t o f t h e f a c t t h a t 7 7 . 2 % o f m e n t a l h e a l t h w o r k e r s

s u p p o r t e d a n i m a l r e s e a r c h a n d 6 4 . 8% s aw i t a s n e c e s s a r yf o r p r o g r e s s i n p s y c h o l o g y , a n d t h e y s u g g e s t t h a t m a n ym e n t a l h e a l t h w o r k e r s w e r e b a si n g t h e i r s u p p o r t f o r a n -i m a l r e s e a r c h o n f a c t o rs o t h e r t h a n i t s a p p l i e d v a l u e i nt h e i r o w n c l i n ic a l w o r k ( a p o i n t t h a t i s e x a m i n e d f u r t h e ri n t h e D i s c u s s i o n s e c t i o n o f t h i s a r t ic l e ) .I n a n e f f o r t t o c a p t u r e t h e r a n g e a n d i n t e n s i ty o fo p i n i o n s e x p r e s s e d b y s u p p o r t e r s a n d o p p o n e n t s o f a n i-m a l u s e , T a b l e 5 p r e s e n t s d i f f e r in g v i e w s o n f o u r c o n t r o -v e r s ia l is s ue s : t h e l e g i t i m a c y o f a n i m a l r i g h t s, t h e v a l u eo f a n i m a l r e s e a rc h , t h e n e e d f o r r e g u l at i o n , a n d t h e v a l u eo f u s in g a n i m a l s i n e d u c a t i o n . A s c a n b e s e en , s u p p o r t e r so f a n i m a l u s e t e n d e d t o f e el t h a t r e s e a r c h a n i m a l s a r et r e a t e d h u m a n e l y a n d / o r t h a t a n i m a l w e l f ar e s h o u l d b es e c o n d a r y t o h u m a n b e n e fi t, w h e r ea s o p p o n e n t s o f a n i m a lu s e t e n d e d t o b e l ie v e t h a t r e s e a r c h a n i m a l s a r e s u b j e c te dt o u n n e c e s s a r y h a r m . T h i s d i v i si o n o f o p i n i o n w a s a ls o

T a b l e 4Reported Use of Anim al Research F ind ings by M enta l Heal th W orkers and Oth er RespondentsM e n t a l h e a l t h w o r k e r s

S u r v e y i te m n %O t h e r r e s p o n d e n ts C o m b i n e d

n % N %Use findings from anim al researchFrequently 189 7.8Occasionally 744 30.5Rarely 978 40.1Never 527 21 .6Effect of a ban on animal researchWould ser iously hamper work 139 5 .7Would have a minor ef fect 1,128 46.5Would have no effect whatsoever 1,160 47.8

217 14.7 406 10.4415 28.1 1,159 29.6459 31.0 1,437 36.7388 26.2 915 23.4146 9.9 285 7.3601 40.8 1,729 44.3726 49.3 1,886 48.4

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T a b l e 5R e s p o n d e n t C o m m e n t s o n t h e U s e o f A n i m a lsAt t i tude tow ard the use o f an ima ls

Topic In favor AgainstA n i m a l r i g h t s

V a l u e o f a n i m a lr e s e a r c h

N e e d f o rr e g u l a t i o n o fa n i m a lr e s e a r c h

V a l u e o f u s i n ga n i m a l s i ne d u c a t i o n

" A n i m a l r i g h t s i s a s i l ly b o u r g e o i s c a u s e a t a t im e w h e nw e h a v e e n o u g h t r o u b l e d e f i n i n g h u m a n e t r e a t m e n to f o u r o w n s p e c i e s . "" I f a n i m a l s a r e t r e a t e d h u m a n e l y , I s e e n o p r o b l e mwi th r e se a r ch o r d e a th i f n e ce ssa r y . I t h in k t h ep e o p l e o p p o s e d a r e g e n e r a l l y s e l f- ri g ht e o u s d o -g o o d e r s . "" 1 d o n o t b e l i e v e t h a t a n i m a l s h a v e r i g h t s - - g u i d e l i n e ss h o u l d sugges t a p p r o p r i a t e r e s e a rc h p a r a m e t e r s ,t h e s e sh o u ld n o t b e m a n d a t e d . "" E x i s t e n t i a l l y , w e h a v e a r i g h t t o d o w h a t e v e r w ed e c i d e w e h a v e a r i g h t t o d o . "

" O u r p r io r it ie s a r e s c r e w e d u p w h e n w e w o r r y m o r ea b o u t t r e a t m e n t o f a n i m a l s , w o m e n ' s r i g h t s ,b o y c o t t i n g b u s i n e s s es w h o d o n o t th in k i n oP o l it ic a ll y C o r r e c t m a n n e r - - t h a n w e d o a b o u th u r ti n g p e o p l e i n a s o c i e t y f a l l in g a p a r t ! ! "

" 1 t h i n k a n i m a l r e se a r ch i s ve r y i m p o r t a n t i nu n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e b r a i n - b e h a v i o r l i n k / i n t e r a c t i o na n d i s i m p o r t a n t i n h e l p i n g u s u n d e r s t a n d p r o b l e m ss u ch a s a n x i e t y , d e p r e s s i o n a n d v i o l e n c e . "" N e u r o p s y c h o l o g i c a l w o r k w i t h a n i m a ls i s im p o r t a n t t ol e a r n a b o u t n e u r a l f u n c ti o n in g , e v e n t h o u g h a n i m a l sa n d h u m an s ' t h in k ' d i f f e r e n t l y . "" A n i m a l r e s e a r c h is e s s e n t i a l f o r p h y s i o l o g i c a l ,c o m p a r a t i v e , a n d d e v e l o p m e n t a l r e s e a r c h inp a r t i c u l a r . "" A n i m a l r e s e a r c h i s e x t r e m e l y i m p o r t a n t , p a r t i c u l a r l y ina r e a s s u c h a s h e a d i n j u r y . "

" [ T h e r e w a s ] a s t u d y w i t h r a t s u b j e c t s o n c o n d i t i o n e dd r u g t o l e r a n c e i n w h i c h i t w a s d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t5 0 % o f a n e x p e r i m e n t a l g r o u p p e r is h e d w h e na d m i n i s t r a t io n o f t h e i r t y p i c a l d r u g d o s e w a sc o n d u c t e d i n a n o v e l e n v i ro n m e n t . T h e i m p l i c a t i o n so f t h is f i n d i n g f o r t h e n o ti o n o f ' o v e r d o s e ' a r es t r i k i n g , a n d i n m y v i e w j u s t i f y t h e sa c r i f i ce o f t h o see x p e r i m e n t a l a n i m a l s . "

" M o s t p s y c h o l o g i s t s / r e s e a r c h e r s h o l d t h e m s e l v e s t os t r i c t s t a n d a r d s , a n d d o n o t u n n e c e s s a r i l y h a r ma n i m a l s . "

" Y o u h a v e t o t ru s t s c ie n c e t o b e i ts o w n w a t c h d o g - -o r y o u m a k e a n e v e n b i g g e r m e s s . "

" R e s t r i c t in g r e s e a r c h o n a n i m a l s t o t h e d e t r im e n t o fh u m a n s i s u n co n sc i o n a b l e . I t h a r ke n s b a ck t o t h et im e s w h e n a u t o p s ie s w e r e b a n n e d a n d g r a v er o b b e r s f l o u r i s h e d . "

" I n t e a c h i n g e x p e r i m e n t a l p s y c h o l o g y c o u rs e s , a n i m a lw o r k i s v i t a l . "" A n i m a l r e s e a r c h a n d a n i m a l t r a i n i n g . . ' . s h o u l d b er e q u i r e d f o r a ll c l i n i c i a n s ! "" W o r k e d w i th m i c e a s g r a d u a t e s t u d e nt d u ri n ge x p e r i m e n t a l p s y c h o l o g y c o u r s e . F o u n d i t t o b e v e r yi n t e r e s t i n g . "

" 1 h a d a w o n d e r f u l u n d e r g r a d e x p e r i e n c e w o r k i n g w i t hr a ts , c a ts , a n d p i g e o n s . . . . T h a t e x p e r i e n c ee n a b l e d m e t o h a v e a t h o r o u g h u n d e r s t a n d in g o fg r a d u a t e l e v e l r e s e a r c h i n b e h a v i o r , c o g n i t i o n ,m o t i v a ti o n , a n d s o c i a l d y n a m i c s . "" 1 d i d a n a n i m a l s t u d y i n g r a d u a t e s c h o o l ( ra ts ) a n df o u n d i t v e r y i n s t r u c t iv e . "

" 1 t h i n k h o w we t r e a t a n i m a l s h a s a n i n f l u e n ce o nh o w w e t r e a t o n e a n o t h e r . M u c h o f t h i s r e s e a r c hw i t h a n i m a l s s e e m s s u p e r f l u o u s . "" T h e s a m e a t t it u d e t h a t l e a d s t o w a r a n d h o m i c id el e a d s o n e s p e c i e s t o i m p o s e i t s w i l l o v e r a n o t h e r . "

" T o s a c r i f ic e i n a n y r e s p e c t o n e s p e c i e s s u ch t h a ta n o t h e r s p e c i e s m a y ' p r o s p e r ' w i l l b e f o u n d t o b ea f a u l t y a p p r o a c h t o c o e x i s t e n c e . I n f a c t it m a y s e tt h e s e e d s f o r d o m i n a n t ' s d e m i s e . "

" W e h o v e n o m o r e r i g h t to h u r t o r c o n t r o l a n im a l st h a n a n i m a l s w o u l d h a v e t o h u r t o r c o n t r o l u s .O p p r e s s i o n is o p p r e s s i o n . "

" 1 o b se r ve d t h e u n j u s t i f i a b l e c r u e l t y t h a t i s i n f l i c t e d o nr e s e a r c h a n i m a l s w h i l e a g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t . . .T h is is a l s o a ' w o m e n ' s ' i ss u e b e c a u s e m o r ew o m e n t h a n m e n o b j e c t to t h e a b u s e o f a n i m a l s . "

" 1 h a v e b e e n d o i n g r e s e a r c h i n b r a i n - b e h a v i o rr e l a ti o n s f o r 3 0 y e a r s a n d m y c o n c l u s io n i s t h a t w ec a n l e a r n m o r e a b o u t t h e b r a i n f r o m s t u d y i n g o n eb r a in p a t i e n t . . , t h an f ro m a n y n u m b e r o f a n im a ls t u d i e s . "

' T i n a n e u r o p s y c h o l o g i s t a n d h a v e w o r k e d in r a t a n dm o n k e y l a b s . H o w e v e r , r m i n c re a s i n gl y c o n v i n c e da b o u t d i f f e re n c e s b e t w e e n a n i m a l a n d h u m a nb r a i n s a n d b e h a v i o r a n d t h i n k w e s h o u l d u s u a l l ys t u d y h u m a n s . "

" 1 u s e d t o c o n d u c t r e s e a r c h w i t h a n i m a l s . I b e l i e v eth a t m u ch o f t h e p a i n I i n f l i c t e d o n a n i m a l s wa s no tj u s ti f ie d b y t h e v a l u e o f t h e d a t a . "

" P a i n a n d d e a t h m a y s t i l l b e n e c e s s a r y i n b i o m e d i c a lr e s e a r c h , b u t n o t p s y c h o l o g i c a l . Y o u w a n t t o s t u d yp a i n ? A s k f o r h u m a n v o l u n t e e r s , t h e y ' r e c a p a b l e o fi n f o r m e d c o n s e n t . "

" T h e r e s e e m t o b e n u m e r o u s p r e s s u r e s f o re x p e r i m e n t a l i s t s t o o v e r v a l u e t h e i r r es u l ts a n du n d e r v a l u e l i f e . "

" M o s t p e o p l e d o n o t k n o w h o w t o t r e a t e a c h o t h e r. . . H o w c o n y o u e x p e c t t h em t o t re a t a n im a l s w e llw i t h o u t ve r y s t r i c t m o n i t o r i n g , ' '

" A s a g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t, I w i t n e s s e d a t r o c i t ie s a n dw a s t h r e a t e n e d t o b e q u i e t . "

" I n m y e x p e r i e n c e a t N I H [ N a t i o n a l I ns ti tu te s o fH e a l t h ] I f o u n d t h a t t h e l a r g e s c a l e u s e o f a n i m a l s ,o v e r t i m e c r e a t e s a c a l l o u s n e s s a m o n g t h o s ei n vo l ve d . T h i s i s , i n m y o p i n i o n , a d e fe n sem e c h a n i s m m u c h l ik e t h a t o f p r i s o n g u a r d s . "

" T h e p r i n c ip l e s c o u l d b e t a u g h t w i t h o u t u si ng r a t s . Iw a s a p h y s i o p s y c h m a j o r a n d I d i d n o t n e e d t o k i llr a t s t o l e a r n a b o u t t h e b r a i n ! "

" 1 s ti ll f e e l b a d a b o u t o d r u g r e s e a r c h p r o j e c t Ip a r t i c i p a t e d o n a s a n u n d e r g r a d u a t e . "

" M y f ir s t g r a d u a t e o s s i s t o n t s h ip w a s m o s t l y c l e a n i n gc a g e s a n d f e e d i n g A l b i n o r a t s . I t h o u g h t b o t h t h er a ts a n d m e w e r e e x p l o i t e d . "

" A s a s t u d e n t I o b s e r v e d N a z i - l i k e b e h a v i o r sd i r e c t e d a t a n i m a l s . "" I n m y u n d e r g r a d u a t e e d u c a t i o n . . . I s a w ro t s a n dg e r b i l s h o r r i b l y m i s t r e a t e d . "

" I n g r a d s c h o o l I d i d r e s e a r c h u s i n g r a t s - - I ' m s o r r y Id i d . A s ' h u m a n e ' a s w e w e r e , i t w a s s ti ll b r u t a l . "Note . Al l s ta temen ts were e i the r unso l ic i ted comm ents n response to f i xed -fo rma t quest ions o r rep l ies to an open-ended su rvey i tem ask ing fo r "add i t iona l comm ents. "

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e v i d e n t i n a n s w e r s t o a s u r v e y q u e s t i o n o n w h e t h e r a n i -m a l s u s e d i n p s y c h o lo g i c a l r e s e a r c h a r e t r e a t e d h u m a n e l y :4 2 . 8% o f r e s p o n d e n t s a n s w e r e d a f f i r m a t iv e l y , 10 .7 % o fr e s p o n d e n t s a n s w e r e d n e g a t i v e ly , a n d 4 6 . 6% o f r e s p o n -d e n t s e x p r e s s e d u n c e r t a i n t y . A l t h o u g h t h e f ig u r e o f 4 2 .8 %i s s o m e w h a t h i g h e r th a n t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f c i t iz e n s w h ob e li e ve t h a t a n i m a l s a r e t r e a t e d h u m a n e l y i n b i o m e d i c a lr e s e a r c h ( A n i m a l I n d u s t r y F o u n d a t i o n , 1 98 9) , i t i s s t r ik -i n g t h a t s o m a n y p s y c h o lo g i st s w e r e u n s u r e a b o u t t h eh u m a n e t r e a t m e n t o f a n i m a l s i n p s y ch o lo g y .P e r h a p s a s a r e s u l t o f t h i s u n c e r t a i n t y , s u p p o r t f o rr e s e a r c h r e g u l a t i o n s w a s g e n e r a l ly h ig h . O n b a l a n c e ,6 1 .2 % o f r e s p o n d e n t s f e l t t h a t t h e c u r r e n t r e g u l a t i o n sg o v e r n i n g a n i m a l r e s e a r c h s h o u l d b e m a i n t a i n e d , 3 2 . 3 %f e lt t h e r e g u l a t i o n s s h o u l d b e s t r e n g t h e n e d , a n d 6 . 5% f e ltt h e r e g u l a t i o n s s h o u l d b e r e d u c e d ( s e e T a b l e 6 ) . I n a d -d i t i o n , 8 5 .9 % o f r e s p o n d e n t s s u p p o r t e d t h e i d e a o f p r o -t e c t i n g t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l w e l l- b e i n g o f p r i m a t e s , c o m -p a r e d w i t h 3 .9 % w h o o p p o s e d i t a n d 1 0. 2% w h o w e r e n o ts u r e . T h i s h i g h l e ve l o f s u p p o r t f o r th e p r o t e c t i o n o f p r i -m a t e s i s e s p e c ia l l y n o t e w o r t h y g i v e n th e o r i g i n a l c o n t r o -v e r s y s u r r o u n d i n g t h i s r e g u l a t i o n ( N o v a k & P e t t o , 1 99 1) .

W h e n a s k e d w h e t h e r A P A f u n d s s h o u l d b e u s e d t od e f e n d r e s e a r c h e rs w h o a r e c h a r g e d w i t h v i o l a t in g a n i m a lw e l f a r e g u i d e l i n e s o r a n t i c r u e l t y l aw s ( a s A P A d i d i n t h ec a s e o f E d w a r d T a u b ) , m o s t r e s p o n d e n ts w e r e o p p o s e d .S e v e r a l r e s p o n d e n t s w r o t e t h a t t h i s w o u l d b e e q u i v a l e n tt o d e f e n d i n g a c l i n i c i a n a g a i n s t c h a rg e s o f u n e t h i c a l b e -h a v i o r t o w a r d a c l i e n t. O t h e r s f e l t t h a t r e s e a r c h e r s s h o u l dc a r r y s o m e t h i n g s i m i l a r t o m a l p r a c t i c e i n s u r a n c e , a s c l i-n i c i a n s o f t e n d o . I n a l l , 5 2. 7% o f r e s p o n d e n t s w e r e o p -p o s e d t o t h i s u s e o f A P A f u n d s , 1 5. 6% w e r e i n f a v o r o fi t , and 31 .7% were unsu re .T h e m a j o r i t y o f re s p o n d e n t s a ls o f a v o r e d tw o i m -p o r t a n t e x t e n s i o n s o f a n i m a l r e s e a r c h r e g u l a t i o n s . F i rs t ,8 1 .2 % o f r e s p o n d e n t s f e l t t h a t p r i o r t o b e i n g g r a n t e d a p -p r o v a l to r u n a n e x p e r i m e n t , i n v e s ti g a t o rs i n th e U n i t e dS t a t e s s h o u l d b e r e q u i r e d t o a s se s s th e d e g r e e o f p a i na n i m a l s m a y e x p e r ie n c e ( a t p r e s en t , s u c h a n a s s e s sm e n ti s n o t m a n d a t o r y i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s ) . O n l y 7 . 2 % o fr e s p o n d e n t s s a i d t h e y w o u l d o p p o s e t h i s r e q u i r e m e n t , a n d1 1.6 % s a i d t h e y w e r e n o t s u r e o f t h e i r p o s i t io n . S e c o n d ,m os t r esp onden t s f e l t t ha t r a t s , mi ce , p i geons , an d r ep t i l ess h o u l d r e c e i v e fe d e r a l p r o t e c t i o n w h e n u s e d f o r r e s e a r c h

T a b l e 6Att itudes Toward R esearch Regulat ions and the Treatment of Animals: A Comparison of Supporters an d O pponents ofAnim al ResearchSuppor t ers Opp onen t s A l l r espondent s

Survey i tem n % n % N %Legal regulations governing animal researchShould be tougher 568 19.5 481Should be maintained 2,10 8 72.5 50Should be reduced 230 7.9 3Protecting the psychological well-being of primatesSuppor t 2 ,620 82.9 55 3Oppose 155 4.9 0Not sure 385 12.2 6Man datory assessments of animal painSupport 2,43 6 77.1 54 5Oppose 286 9 .1 1Not sure 436 13.8 12Are research animals treated humanely?Yes 1,631 52.0 26No 112 3.6 27 7Not sure 1,396 44 .5 248Should APA use funds to defend animal researchers?Yes 561 18.0 36No 1,450 46.5 4 4 5

Not sure 1,106 35.5 75The Animal Wel fare Act should coverPrimates 2,882 95.5 545Dogs 2,791 92.5 545Cats 2,757 91.4 546Pigeons 2,126 70.5 517Rats and mice 2,10 6 69.8 500Reptiles 1,797 59.6 49 4

90.1 1,176 32.39 .4 2 ,227 61 .20 .6 238 6.598.9 3 ,413 85.90.0 155 3.91.1 404 I 0.297.7 3 ,223 81 .20 .2 287 7 .22 .2 459 11.6

4.7 1,685 42 .850.3 421 10.745.0 1,835 46.66. 5 6 12 15.680 .0 2 ,068 52.7

13.5 1,243 31.799.1 3,664 96.199.1 3,574 93 .899.3 3,539 92.994 .0 2 ,847 74.790.9 2 ,805 73.689 .8 2 ,480 65.1

Note. APA = Amer i can Psycho l og i ca l Assoc ia t ion . Inc ludes respon dent s wh o d i d n o t ident i f y t hemselves a s suppor t ers or opp onen t s o f an i mal r esearch.

1 1 7 4 N o v e m b e r 1 9 96 A m e r i c a n P s y c h o l o g i s t


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(a ll o f these an imals a re cur ren t ly exc luded f rom coverageunde r the U.S . Animal Welfa re Ac t). As shown in F igure2 , 73 .6% of r e spondents f e lt tha t r a ts and mice shou ld becovered , 74 .7% fe lt tha t p igeons sho uld b e covered , and65.1% fe l t tha t r ep t i le s should be covered . Fur the rm ore ,b o th o f th e se r e g u l a to r y r e f o r m s - - m a n d a to r y p a in a s-sessments and federal protection for ra ts , mice, pigeons,a n d r e p t i l e s - - w e r e f a v o r e d b y t h e m a jo r i t y o f a n im a l r e-sea rch suppor te r s a s we l l a s most an imal r e sea rch op-ponents ( see Table 6). Amo ng animal r e sea rch suppor te r s ,77 .1% favored man da to ry pa in a ssessments , 69 .8% fa -vored fede ra l pro tec t io n for r a ts and mice , 70 .5% favoredfederal pro tec t ion for p igeons , and 59 .6% favored fede ra lpro tec t ion for r ep t i le s (wi th cor responding f igures of97.7%, 90.9%, 94.0%, and 89.8%, respectively, am ong op-ponents of an imal r e sea rch) . Thus , supp or t for thesemeasures cons t i tu te s a r a re ins tance o f agreement be tweenadvoca tes and opp onents o f an imal r e sea rch .F igure 2 a lso shows tha t knowledge concern ing theU.S . Animal Welfa re Ac t was ra the r low. Most r e spon-dents thought tha t r a ts and mice were a l ready coveredund er the ac t , and nea r ly ha l f thoug ht tha t p igeons wereinc luded . Severa l hundred respondents s imply le f t th isques t ion b lank or sc r ibbled comments such as " I haveno idea , " and of the 3 ,102 indiv idua ls who a t temp ted aresponse, o nly 28.8% answe red co rrectly (i .e ., y es to pr i-

mates, dogs, and cats, and no to ra ts and mice, pigeons,and rep t i le s ) . Suppor te r s and opp onents o f an imal r e -search did not differ signif icantly in th e overall percentagewho g ot this i tem co rrect (29.1% vs. 27.5%, respectively) ,but the y d id show an in te res ting mir ror - imag e b ias : Sup-por te r s thought m ore exc luded an imals were covered (M= 1 .2 l ) than d id op ponents (M = 0 .95) , and opponen tsthough t m ore co vered spec ies were exc luded (M - - 0 .58)than d id suppor te r s (M = 0 .26). Both o f these d i f fe renceswere highly significant, t(2529) = 4.33 and t(2529) = 8.19,respectively, ps < .001.The rem ain ing two a t t i tude i tems dea l t wi th the useof an imals in edu ca t ion . M ost r e sponden ts were in f avorof us ing an imals in und ergradua te psychology courses :57 .8% sup por ted th is use of an imals , 26 .2% oppo sed i t ,and 16 .0% were unsure . At the sam e t ime , 53 .9% of re -spondents f e lt tha t lab ora tory work wi th an imals shouldnot be a r equ i r ed par t o f the undergrad ua te psychologymajor , com par ed w ith 3 I . 1% in favor and 15.0% uns ure .Taken together , these results suggest there is major itysuppo r t for the use of an imals in teaching , provided suchcourse work is offered on an optional basis .Ad d i t i ona l Ana l ysesFrom a d isc ip l ina ry pe r spec t ive , one of the most impo r -tan t ques t ions about an imal r e sea rch i s whe the r i t wi l l

I III IIIfigure 2Comparison of Respondents Believing Various Animals Are Federally Protected and Respondents Feeling Animals ShouldBe Federally Protected

Research AnimalNote. A comparison of the perce ntage o f respondents who believe various animals are cove red under the U.S. Animal We lfare Act and the percen tage of respondentswho feel the animals should be covered under federal protection. At the present time, primates, dogs, and cats are covered under the act, but rats, mice, birds, andreptiles are not. I

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T a b l e 7Gene rational Differences in Attitudes Tow ard the Useof Animals

D e c o d e P h D w a s o b t a in e dB e f o r e

Att i tude 197 0 1970 s 1980s 1990sStrongly support the use of

animals in research% 47 .7 32 .0 26 .5 20 .0n 322 383 390 56See animal research asnecessary for progress% 78 .4 72 .0 65 .9 56 .4n 535 863 970 159Freque ntly use findings fromanimal research% 15.4 11.1 8.6 7.1n 105 133 127 20Would be seriouslyhampered by ban onanimal research% 11.9 7.0 6.6 3.6n 80 84 97 10Support the use of a nimalsin undergraduateeducation

% 63.9 6 0 . 9 55.5 50.0n 434 728 815 141Feel that an imal labs shou ldbe required for majors% 37 .4 32 .2 29 .4 22 .5n 254 386 433 63Believe that researchanimals are treatedhumanely% 49 .0 44 .5 41 .2 36 .4n 331 531 601 102Feel that researchregulations should betougher% 22 .7 27 .6 36 .7 47 .3n 143 304 491 124Feel that funding fo r animalresearch should be cut% 20 .7 27 .0 32 .2 39 .4n i 35 308 449 106

Note. Al l genera t i ona l d i f f e rences a re s ign i fi can t by X2(31 a t p < .001 .

c o n t i n u e t o p l a y a p r o m i n e n t r o l e i n p s y c h o l o g ic a l e x -p e r i m e n t a t i o n . A l t h o u g h t h e p r e s e n t su r v e y m e a s u r e da t t it u d e s a t o n l y o n e p o i n t i n t i m e a n d c a n n o t , t h e r e f o r e ,p r o v i d e tr e n d i n f o r m a t i o n , i t c a n f u r n is h a c o m p a r i s o no f o p i n i o n s a c r o s s d i f f e re n t g e n e r a t i o n s o f p s y c h o lo g i s ts .A s s e e n i n T a b l e 7 , th e r e s u l t s o f t h i s c o m p a r i s o n a r eq u i t e c l e a r : R e c e n t P h D r e c i p i e n t s a r e c o n s i d e r a b l y l e s se n t h u s i a s t i c a b o u t t h e u s e o f a n i m a l s t h a n a r e o l d e r r e -s p o n de n ts . F o r e x a m p l e , c o m p a r e d w i t h r e s p o n d e n ts w h o

e a r n e d a P h D b e f o r e 1 9 7 0 , r e s p o n d e n t s e a r n i n g a P h Dd u r i n g t h e 1 9 9 0 s w e r e le s s t h a n h a l f a s li k e ly t o e x p r e s ss t r o n g s u p p o r t f o r a n i m a l r e s e a r c h . O f r e s p o n d e n t s i n t h el a t t e r g r o u p , 9 6 . 1 % s a i d t h a t a b a n o n a n i m a l r e s e a r c hw o u l d h a v e l i tt le o r n o e f f e c t o n t h e i r w o r k , a n d o n l y 7 . 1 %s a id t h e y u s e d f i n d in g s f r o m a n i m a l r e s e a r c h o n a f r e q u e n tbas i s .

T h e r e a s o n s f o r th i s t re n d a r e h a r d t o g a u g e , b u to n e k e y c o n t r ib u t o r m a y b e th e g r o w i n g n u m b e r o fw o m e n i n p s y c h o l o g y (P i o n e t a l. , 1 9 9 6 ). I n t h e c u r r e n ts a m p l e , 2 1 .0 % o f t h e r e s p o n d e n t s w i t h a p r e - 1 9 7 0 P h Dw e r e f e m a l e , 3 5 .2 % w i t h a 1 9 7 0 s P h D w e r e f e m a l e , 5 3 .8 %w i t h a 1 9 8 0 s P h D w e r e fe m a l e , a n d 6 4 . 1 % w i t h a 1 9 9 0 sP h D w e r e f e m a l e . S e v e r a l s t u d i e s h a v e f o u n d t h a t f e w e rw o m e n t h a n m e n s u p p o r t a n i m a l r e s e a r c h ( D r i s c o l l ,1 9 9 2; F o u n d a t i o n f o r B i o m e d i c a l R e s e a r c h , 1 9 8 5; P i f ere t a l . , 1 9 9 4 ) , a n d t h e p r e s e n t r e s u l t s a r e c o n s i s t e n t w i t ht h i s c o n c lu s i o n . A s s h o w n i n T a b l e 8 , f e m a l e r e s p o n d e n t sw e r e s i g n i fi c a n tl y l es s s u p p o r t i v e o f a n i m a l r e s e a r c h a n ds i g n i fi c a n t ly m o r e s u p p o r t i v e o f re s e a r c h r e g u l a t i o n s t h a nw e r e m a l e r e s p o n d e n t s .

T h e s e f in d i n g s r a is e t h e q u e s t i o n o f w h e t h e r g e n e r -a t i o n a l d i f f e r e n c e s p e r s i s t o n c e g e n d e r i s t a k e n i n t o a c -c o u n t . T o a s s e ss th e i n d e p e n d e n t e f fe c t s o f g e n d e r a n dP h D y e a r, b o t h f a c t o r s w e r e r e g re s s e d o n u n w e i g h t e dc o m p o s i t e m e a s u r e s o f s u p p o r t f o r a n i m a l r e s e ar c h a n ds u p p o r t f o r r e s e a r c h r e g u l a ti o n s . T h e a n i m a l r e s e a r c hc o m p o s i t e m e a s u r e w a s b a s e d o n z - s c o r e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n so f t h r e e i t e m s ( s u p p o r t f o r a n i m a l r e s e a r c h , s u p p o r t f o ra n i m a l r e s e a r c h f u n d i n g , a n d t h e p e r c e i v e d n e c e s s i ty o f

T a b l e 8G e n d e r Differences in Attitudes Towa rd the Use of Animals

M e n W o m e nAtt i tude n % n %Strongly support the use ofanimals in research 881 39.2 360 21.2See animal research asnecessary for progress 1,743 77.2 988 58 .0Freque ntly use findings fromanimal research 249 11.0 158 9.3Would be seriously hampered byban on animal research 187 8 .3 95 5.6Support the use of animals inundergraduate education 1,483 65.8 798 47.1Feel that a nimal labs should b erequired for majors 834 37.0 39 7 23.3Believe that research animals aret reated humanely 1,104 49.3 578 34.2Feel that rese arch reg ulationsshould be tougher 514 24.2 65 8 43.7Feel that funding fo r an imalresearch should be cut 521 23 .9 586 36.8Note. Excep t fo r the it em on f requency o f usage, a l l gender d i f f e rences o resignificant by 2 { I } a t p < . 0 0 2 .

1 1 7 6 N o v e m b e r 1 9 96 A m e r i c a n P s y c h o l o g is t


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a n i m a l r e s e a rc h ) , a n d t h e r e s e a r c h r e g u l a t i o n s c o m p o s i t em e a s u r e w a s b a s e d o n z - s co r e t ra n s f o r m a t i o n s o f f o u ri t e m s ( s u p p o r t f o r r e s e a r c h r e g u l a t io n s , s u p p o r t f o r p r o -t e c t in g t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l w e ll - b e in g o f p r i m a t e s , s u p p o r tf o r m a n d a t o r y p a i n a s s e s sm e n t s , a n d t h e n u m b e r o f an -i m a l s th a t r e s p o n d e n t s t h o u g h t s h o u l d b e c o v e r e d u n d e rf e d e r a l p r o t e c t io n ) . T h e r e s u l t s o f th e s e r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s e ss h o w e d t h a t g e n d e r w a s a s t r o n g e r p r e d i c t o r t h a n P h Dy e a r , b u t a f t e r c o n t r o l l i n g f o r e ff e c t s o f g e n d e r , P h D y e a rw a s s ti ll s i g n i f i c a n t l y r e l a t e d t o s u p p o r t f o r a n i m a l r e -s e a r c h a n d s u p p o r t f o r r e s e a r c h r e g u l a ti o n s . I n o t h e rw o r d s , ev e n a p a r t f r o m t h e i n c r e a si n g n u m b e r o f w o m e ni n p s y c h o l o g y , r e c e n t P h D r e c i p i e n t s e x p r e s s e d l e ss su p -p o r t f o r a n im a l r e s e a rc h a n d m o r e s u p p o r t f o r r e s e ar c hr e g u l a t i o n s t h a n d i d o l d e r p s y c h o l o g i st s .DiscussionT h e p i c t u r e t h a t e m e r g e s f r o m t h i s s t u d y i s o n e o f q u a l -i f ie d s u p p o r t f o r th e u s e o f a n i m a l s i n p s y c h o l o g y . A p -p r o x i m a t e l y 8 0 % o f r e s p o n d e n t s e x p r e s s e d g e n er a l s u p -p o r t f o r p s y c h o l o g ic a l r e s e a r c h o n a n i m a l s , a n d n e a r l y6 0 % e n d o r s e d t h e u s e o f a n i m a l s i n u n d e r g r a d u a t e p s y -c h o l o g y c o u r s e s . A t t h e s a m e t i m e , r e s p o n d e n t s t e n d e dt o d i s a p p r o v e o f e x p e r i m e n t s i n v o l v in g p a i n o r d e a t h ,a n d m o s t f e lt th a t l a b o r a t o r y w o r k w i t h a n i m a l s s h o u l dn o t b e a r e q u i r e d p a r t o f t h e p s y c h o l o g y m a j o r. T h e s er e s u l ts a r e c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e f i n d in g s o f H u s k e y ( 1 9 9 1 ),w h o r e p o r t e d t h a t " m o s t p s y c h o l o g is t s d o n o t s e e t h ei s su e s r e l a te d t o t h e u s e o f a n i m a l s i n b i o m e d i c a l o r p s y -c h o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h a s r e p r e s e n t i n g a s i m p l e , ' a l l a n i m a lr e s e a r c h i s g o o d ' o r ' a l l a n i m a l r e s e a r c h i s b a d ' i s s u e "( p . 262) .

T h e p r e s e n t r e s u l t s a r e a l s o c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e o b -s e r v a t i o n s o f G i a n n e l l i ( 1 9 8 6 ) a n d K e l l y (1 9 8 6 ) , w h of o u n d t h a t a n i m a l r e s e a r c h w a s s e l d o m c i t ed i n t h e c l i ni c alp s y c h o l o g y l it e r a tu r e . M o s t m e n t a l h e a l t h w o r k e r s w h or e s p o n d e d t o t h e s u r v e y s a id t h e y d i d n o t m a k e f r e q u e n tu s e o f f i n d in g s f r o m a n i m a l r e s e a r c h , a n d n e a r l y 9 5 % f e l tt h a t a b a n o n a n i m a l r e s e a r c h w o u l d h a v e l i t t l e o r n oe f f ec t o n t h e i r w o r k . O f c o u r s e , t h e s e r e s u lt s d o n o t m e a nt h a t a n i m a l r e s e a r c h i s w i t h o u t c l i n ic a l v a l u e ; i t m a y b et h a t c l in i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n s o f a n i m a l r e s e a r c h a r e r e l a t iv e l yr a r e b u t e x t r e m e l y i m p o r t a n t i n t h o se c a s es w h e n t h e yd o o c c u r . O r i t m a y b e t h a t c l in i c a ll y v a l u a b l e s t u d i est a k e p l a c e p r i m a r i l y a t t h e l e v e l o f b a s i c s c i e n c e , f a r re -m o v e d f r o m t h e d a i ly c o n c e r n s o f m o s t m e n t a l h e a l thw o r k e r s ( e. g ., c l a s s i c a l - c o n d i t i o n i n g r e s e a r c h t h a t l a y s th ef o u n d a t i o n f o r p h o b i a t r e a t m e n t s ) . R e g a r d l e s s o f t h e r e a -s o n , h o w e v e r , it is c l e a r t h a t m o s t c l i n ic i a n s v i e w e d a n i m a lr e s e a r c h a s p e r i p h e r a l t o t h e i r w o r k .

A l a r g e n u m b e r o f re s p o n d e n t s a l so e x p r e s s e d d o u b t sa b o u t w h e t h e r a n i m a l s u s e d i n p s y c h o l o g ic a l r e s e a r c h a n de d u c a t i o n a r e t r e a t e d h u m a n e l y . P a r t o f t h e d i ff i c u lt y h e r em a y b e t h a t a n i m a l c a r e g u i d e li n e s s o m e t i m e s u s e t h ew o r d hum ane w h e n r e f er r in g t o p r o c e d u r e s t h a t w o u l db e c o n s i d e r e d a v e r si v e i n a h u m a n c o n t e x t ( e. g. , c o n f i n e -m e n t i n a s m a l l s p a ce , d e p r i v a t i o n o f f o o d o r w a t e r) . C o n -s id e r, f o r e x a m p l e , t h e r e l a ti v e l y s tr i n g e n t " G u i d e l i n e s f o rt h e U s e o f A n i m a l s i n S c h o o l S c i e n c e B e h a v i o r P r o j e c t s "

i ss u e d b y t h e A P A C o m m i t t e e o n A n i m a l R e s e a r c h a n dE x p e r i m e n t a t i o n ( 1 9 81 ) . A c c o r d i n g t o t h e s e g u i d e li n e s ,s c h o o l s ci e n ce p r o j e c t s u s i n g a n i m a l s m u s t b e " c o n d u c t e dw i t h h u m a n e c o n s i d e r a t i o n s a n d r e s p e c t f o r a n i m a l li f e "( p . 6 8 6 ) . A t t h e s a m e t i m e , h o w e v e r , t h e s e g u i d e l i n e s s t a t et h a t i f s t u d e n t s a r e a p p r o p r i a t e l y s u p e r v i s e d a n d h a v ea d e q u a t e a n i m a l f a ci li ti e s, t h e y m a y " i n f l i c t p a i n , s e v e r ed e p r i v a t i o n , o r h i g h s t r e s s le v e l s o r u s e i n v a s i v e p r o c e d u r e ss u c h a s s u r g e ry , t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f d r u g s , i o n i z i n g r a -d i a t i o n , o r t o x i c a g e n t s " ( p . 68 6 ) . A s o n e s u r v e y r e s p o n -d e n t p u t it , " W h a t s e e m s l ik e n o r m a l h u m a n e t r e a t m e n to f a n i m a l [ s ] t o p e o p l e w h o l iv e al l d a y i n p s y c h l a b s, o f t e nd o e s n o t s e e m h u m a n e t o p e o p le o n t h e o u t s i d e ."T h i s c o n c e r n a b o u t h u m a n e t r e a t m e n t w a s e q u a ll ye v i d e n t f r o m t h e s t r o n g s u p p o r t r e s p o n d e n t s e x p r e s s e df o r m a n d a t o r y p a i n a s s e ss m e n ts . M o r e t h a n 8 0 % o f r e -s p o n d e n t s f e l t t h a t r e s e a r c h e r s s e e k i n g a p p r o v a l f o r a ne x p e r i m e n t s h o u l d b e r e q u i r e d t o a s s e ss t h e d e g r e e o fp a i n a n i m a l s m a y e x p e r i e n c e . S u c h a n a s s e s s m e n t is r e -q u i r e d i n C a n a d a a n d s o m e E u r o p e a n n a t i o n s b u t n o t i nt h e U n i t e d S t a te s (i n 1 9 8 7 t h e U . S . D e p a r t m e n t o f A g r i -c u l t u r e p r o p o s e d t h e u s e o f a p a i n s c a l e s im i l a r t o t h eo n e s h o w n i n F i g u r e 3 , b u t t h e p r o p o s a l w a s n o t a d o p t e d ;O r l a n s , 1 9 93 ) . A l t h o u g h p a i n s c a le s i n v o l v e a g o o d d e a lo f s u b j e c ti v e j u d g m e n t a n d a r e c e r t a i n l y n o t a p a n a c e a ,t h e y se r v e a n u m b e r o f i m p o r t a n t p u r p o s e s a n d s h o u l dp r o b a b l y b e c o n s i d e re d m o r e s e r io u s ly t h a n t h e y h a v eb e e n i n t h e p a s t ( f o r a u s e f u l d i s c u s s i o n o f t h i s i s s u e , se eO r l a n s , 1 9 9 3 ) .

A n o t h e r p o l ic y c h a n g e f a v o re d b y m o s t r e s p o n d e n t sw a s t h e e x t e n s i o n o f fe d e r al a n i m a l w e l f a r e p r o t e c t i o n t or a t s, m i c e , p i g e o n s , a n d r e p t i l e s. T h i s c h a n g e w o u l d a p p l yt o t h e m a j o r i t y o f a n i m a l r e s e a r c h e r s i n p s y c h o l o g y , b e -c a u s e r a t s, m i c e , a n d b i r d s c o m p r i s e r o u g h l y 9 5 % o f a l la n i m a l s u s e d i n p s y c h o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h ( G a l l u p & S u a r e z ,1 9 85 ). A t t h e p r e s e n t t i m e , i n s t i t u t io n s u s i n g o n l y t h e s ea n i m a l s a r e n o t s u b j e c t to i n s p e c t i o n b y t h e U . S . D e -p a r t m e n t o f A g r i c u lt u r e , a n d i n v e s t ig a t o r s u s i n g t h e s ea n i m a l s a r e n o t r e q u i r e d t o f o ll o w U . S . P u b l i c H e a l t hS e r v i c e g u id e l i n e s o n a n i m a l c a r e u n l e s s t h e i r i n s t i tu t i o nr e c e iv e s fe d e r a l f u n d s f o r b i o m e d i c a l o r b e h a v i o r re s e a r c ho n a n i m a l s . ~ E x c l u s i o n u n d e r t h e U . S . A n i m a l W e l f a r eA c t al so m e a n s t h a t t h e s e a n i m a l s a r e n o t c o u n t e d b y t h eU . S. D e p a r t m e n t o f A g r i c u lt u r e i n it s a n n u a l r e p o r t o na n i m a l r e s e a r c h .

T h e s u r v e y r e s u l t s d is c u s s e d a b o v e r a i se s e v e r a lq u e s t io n s t h a t m e r i t f u r t h e r r e s e a rc h . F o r e x a m p l e , f u t u r es u r v ey s m i g h t e x p l o re w h y t h e m a j o r i t y o f m e n t a l h e a l t h

This should not be interpreted as m eaning that ex perimen ts onrats, m ice, pigeons, and reptiles are cu rrently unregulated. For one thing,man y institutions do receive ederal funds for animal research, and theseinstitutions are required to follow h e N ational ResearchCoun cil's 1996)Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Although rodentand pigeon laboratories at these institutions are no t typically nspectedby the go vernmen t, these guidelines state that e ach institution shouldestablish its own "animal care and use com mittee" o ensure hat researchanimals are treated humanely. In addition, APA (1992) maintains a setof guidelines recomm ending that anima l researchers com ply with allapplicable federal, state, and local laws.

N o v e m b e r 1 9 96 A m e r i c a n P s y c h ol o g is t 1 1 77


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Figure 3A Pa in Sca le for Psych ological Research an Animals

w o r k e r s s u p p o r t e d a n i m a l r e s e a r c h a n d s a w it a s n e c e s s a r yf o r p r o g r e s s in p s y c h o l o g y e v e n w h i l e s t a t in g t h a t t h e yt h e m s e l v e s r a r e l y o r n e v e r u s e d a n i m a l - b a s e d f i nd i ng s .O n e e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h i s a p p a r e n t d i s c r e p a n c y m a y b et h a t m e n t a l h e a l t h w o r k e r s v i e w e d a n i m a l r e s e a r c h a sm o r e v a l u a b l e a t t h e l e v e l o f b a si c s c i e n c e t h a n a t t h el e v e l o f c l in i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n . A n o t h e r p o s s i b i l it y i s t h a tr e s p o n d e n t s i n t e r p r e t e d t h e w o r d u se i n o n l y t h e s t r i c t e s ts e n s e , e x c l u d i n g a n i m a l s t u d i e s t h a t h a v e la i d t h e f o u n -d a t i o n f o r c li n ic a l t re a t m e n t s ( m u c h a s p e o p le w h o d e p e n do n c o m p u t e r s d o n o t t h i n k o f th e m s e lv e s a s " u s in g " t h er e s u l t s o f e l e c t r i c a l e n g i n e e r i n g ) . S t i l l a n o t h e r p o s s i b i l it yi s t h a t m e n t a l h e a l t h w o r k e r s o v e r e s t im a t e d h o w o f t e no t h e r p r a c t i t i o n e r s u s e a n i m a l - b a s e d f i n d i n g s , b e l i e v i n gt h a t t h e s e f i n d in g s a r e u s e d m o r e o f t e n t h a n t h e y r e a l lya r e . F u t u r e s u r v e y s m i g h t e x a m i n e t h e s e a n d o t h e r p o s -s i b l e e x p l a n a t i o n s b y a s k i n g r e s p o n d e n t s t o s e p a r a t e l ye v a l u a te t h e b a s i c a n d a p p l i e d v a l u e o f a n i m a l r e s e a r c ho r b y a s k i n g r e s p o n d e n t s a b o u t t h e v a l u e o f b a si c r e s e a r c hi n d e v e l o p i n g c l i n i c a l t r e a t m e n t s .F u t u r e s u r v e y s m i g h t a l s o a sk r e s p o n d e n t s t o e v a l-u a t e t h e u s e f u l n e s s o f s p ec i f i c t y p e s o f a n i m a l r e s e a r c h( e .g . , s tu d i e s o f l e a r n e d h e l p l e s sn e s s i n d o g s , a g g r e s s i o ni n r a t s , l a n g u a g e a b i li t y i n p r i m a t e s ) . I n t h e p r e s e n t s u r v e y ,r e s p o n d e n t s w e r e a s k ed o n l y a b o u t g e n e r a l c a t e g o ri e s o fa n i m a l r e s e a rc h . O n e c o n s e q u e n c e o f t h i s li m i t a t i o n c a nb e f o u n d i n t h e s u r v e y it e m a s k i n g w h e t h e r e x p e r i m e n t s

i n v o l v i n g p a i n o r d e a t h a r e j u s t i f ie d ; b e c a u s e p a i n a n dd e a t h a p p e a r e d t o g e t h e r a s a si n g l e c a t e g o r y , it is u n c l e a rw h e t h e r r e s p o n d e n t s w e r e o b j e c t i n g t o p a i n , d e a t h , o r ac o m b i n a t i o n o f t h e t w o . F u t u r e r e s e a r c h s h o u l d d i se n -t a n g l e t h e s e t w o f a c t o r s.F i n a ll y , t h e s u r v e y c o n t a i n e d t w o o t h e r l i m i t a t i o n st h a t m i g h t b e a d d r e s s e d t h r o u g h f u r t h e r r e s e a rc h . F i r st ,t h e s a m p l e f r a m e w a s r e s tr i c t e d t o A P A m e m b e r s , f el lo w s,a n d a s s o c i a t e s . T h i s s a m p l e f r a m e w a s c h o s e n b e c a u s eA P A i s t h e l a r g e s t o r g a n i z a t i o n o f p r o f e s s i o n a l p s y c h o l -o g i st s i n t h e c o u n t r y a n d b e c a u s e a c e n t r a l p u r p o s e o ft h e s t u d y w a s t o s e e w h e t h e r c l i n i c i a n s r e p o r t u s i n g t h er e s u l ts o f a n i m a l r e s e a r c h . N o n e t h e l e s s , i t is q u i t e p o s s i b l et h a t m e m b e r s o f le s s c l i n i c a l ly o r i e n t e d p r o f e s s i o n a l a s -s o c i a t i o n s ( e . g . , t h e A m e r i c a n P s y c h o l o g i c a l S o c i e t y )w o u l d h a v e a n s w e r e d d i f f e re n t l y t h a n A P A m e m b e r s .S e c o n d , t h e s u r v e y m e a s u r e d o p i n i o n s a t o n l y o n e p o i n ti n t i m e , t h e r e b y l i m i t i n g it s a b i l i ty t o p r o v i d e i n f o r m a t i o no n c h a n g e s i n a t t i t u d e . A l t h o u g h t h e r e s u l t s s h o w e d ad e c l i n e in s u p p o r t f o r a n i m a l r e s e a r c h a m o n g r e c e n t g e n -e r a t i o n s o f p s y ch o l og i st s , it r e m a i n s a n o p e n q u e s t i o n a st o w h a t e f f ec t , if a n y , t h e s e g e n e r a t i o n a l d i f f e r e n c e s w i l lh a v e o n t h e f u t u r e o f a n i m a l r e s e a r c h i n p s y c h o l o g y.REFERENCESAmerican Association or the Advancementof Science. ( 1990, Februar y19). Resolutio n on the use of animals in research, testing, and edu-cation. Washington, DC: Author.

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American Medical Association. (1989, April). AM A surveys o fphysicianand public opinion on health care issues: 1989. Chicago: Author.American Psychological Association. (1992). Guidelines for ethical con-duct in the care and use o f animals. Washington, DC: Author.Am erican Psychologica l Associa tion, Off ice of Demo graphic , Emp loy-merit, and E ducational Research. (1993). [Demographic characteristicsof APA mem bers by mem bership s ta tus] . U npublished raw data.Animal Industry Foundation. (1989, Apri l) . Survey results on howAmericans view modern livestock farm ing (Re por t No. CR 2765) .Arl ington, VA: Author .Associated Press. (1985). [Data available from P OL L com pute r database].Storrs , CT : Roper Center for Public Opinio n.Benedict, J. , & Stoloff, M. (1991). Animal laboratory facilities at"America 's best" undergraduate colleges . American Psychologist, 46,535-536.Bowd, A. D., & Shapiro, K . J. (1993). Th e case against laboratory anim alresearch in psychology. Journal o f Social Issues, 49, 133-142.Com m it te e on An im a l Re se a rc h a nd Expe r im e nta t ion . (1981). G uide -l ines for the use of animals in schoo l sc ience behavior projec ts. A m e r -ican Psychologist, 36, 686.Dil lman, D. A. (1978) . Ma il and telephone surveys: T he total designmethod. New York: Wiley.Domjan, M. , & Purdy, J . E. (1995) . Animal research in psychology:Mo re than meets the eye of the genera l psychology s tudent. AmericanPsychologist, 50, 496-503.Driscoll, J. W . (1992). Attitudes toward animal use. AnthrozoOs, 5, 32-39.Foun dation for Biomedical Research. (1985). Mem bers o f the Americanpublic com men t on the use of animals in m edical research and testing.(Available f rom the Fo undation for Biomedical Research, 818 Con -necticut Avenue, NW, Su ite 303, Washington, DC 20006)Fox, M. W. (1990). Inh um ane society: The American way of exploitinganimals. New York: St . Mart in 's Press .Gallup, G. G ., Jr. , & Eddy, T. J. (1990). An ima l facilities survey.AmericanPsychologist, 45, 400-401.Gallup, G. G., Jr. , & Suarez, S. D. (1985). Alternatives to the use ofanimals in psychological research. American Psychologist, 40, 1104-1111.Gianne ll i , M. A. (1986) . Thre e bl ind mice , see how they run: A cr i t iqueof behaviora l research with animals . In M . W. Fox & L. D. M ickley(Eds.),Advances in animal welfarescience 1985 (pp. 109-163). Boston:Mart inu s Nijhoff.Groller, 1. (1990, May). Do animals have rights? Parents, 33 .Huskey, C. A. ( 1991). Attitudes toward animal research among contemporarypsychologists.Hum ane Innovations and Alternatives, 5, 258-262.Jacobs, E., & Worcester, R. (1990). We British: Britain under theMORIscope. Lond on: Weidenfe ld an d N icolson.

Jasper, J. M., & Nelkin, D. (1992). The animal rights crusade: Thegrowth o f a mor al protest. New York: Free Press.Kelly, J. A. (1986). Psychological researc h and the righ ts of animals:Disagreem ent with M iller . American Psychologist, 41, 839-841.Man's mirror . (1991, November 16) . The Economist, 21-22 , 24 .Miller, N. E. (1985). Th e valu e of behavioral research o n animals. A m e r -ican Psychologist, 40, 423--440.National O pinion Research Center . (1948) . [Da ta available f rom POL Lcom puter da tabase]. Storrs , CT : Roper Center for Public Opinion.National Research C ouncil . (1996) . Guide for the care and use o f lab -oratory animals. Washington, DC: Nation al Academy Press.Nati ona l Science B oard. ( 1991 ). Science & engineering indicators ( 10thed. ). Washington, D C: U.S. Govern men t Pr int ing Off ice .Novak, M. A ., & Petto, A. J. (Eds.). (1991). Through the looking glass:Issues of psychological well-being in captive nonhu man primates.Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Orlans, E B. (1993). I n t h e n a m e o f science: Issues in responsible animalexperimentation. New York: Oxford University Press.Orlans , E B. (1994) . Data on animal experimenta t ion in the UnitedSta tes : What they do and do not show. Perspectives in Biology andMedicine, 37, 217-231.Phillips, M. T., & Sechzer, J. A. (1989). Animal research and ethicalconflict: An analysis of the scientific literature: 1966-1986. New York:Springer-Verlag.Pifer, L., Shim izu, K ., & Pifer, R. (1994). Pub lic attitud es tow'aid animalresearch: Some internat ional comparisons . Society and Animals, 2 .95-113.Pion , G. M ., Mednick, M. T., Astin, H . S., Hall, C. C. I. , Kenkel, M . B.,Keita, G. P., Kohout, J. L., & Kelleher, J. C. (1996). The shiftinggender compo sit ion of psychology: Trends and implica t ions for thediscipline. American Psychologist, 51. 509-528.Pious, S. (1996). A ttitudes toward the use of anim als in psychologicalresearch and ed ucation: R esults f rom a nat ional su rvey of psychologymajors. Psychological Science, 7, 352-358.Robinson, D. N. (1990) . Comment on animal research labs . AmericanPsychologist, 45, 1269.Rowan, A. N. (1994, March) . Labo ra tory animal numbers: Trends andproblems. Ani ma l Policy Report, 8 , 1-3.Rowan, A. N., & Loew, E M. (1995). The anim al research controversy:Protest . process & pub licpolicy No rth G raf ton, M A: Tufts Univers i ty,Center for Anim als and Public Policy.Thom as, G. V. , & Blackman, D. (1992) . The future o f anima l s tudiesin psychology. American Psychologist, 47, 1679.Ulr ich, R . E. ( 1991 ) . Anima l r ights , anim al wrongs and the quest ion ofbalance. Psychological Science, 2, 197-201.U.S. Animal Welfare Act, 7 U.S.C. 2131-2157 (1966).

A P P E N D I XS u r v e y Q u e s t i o n s o n t h e U s e o f A n i m a l s

1 . I n g e n e r a l , d o y o u s u p p o r t o r o p p o s e t h e u s e o f a n i -m a l s i n p s y c h o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h ?

S u p p o r t s t r o n g l y / S u p p o r t ~ O p p o s e / O p p o s es t r o n g l y ~ N o t s u r e2 . H o w o f t e n d o y o u u s e f i n d in g s f ro m a n i m a l r e s e a r c h

i n y o u r p r o f e s s i o n a l w o r k ?F r e q u e n t l y ~ O c c a s i o n a l l y / R a r e l y / N e v e r

3 . D o y o u b e l i e v e th a t t h e u s e o f a n i m a l s i n p s y c h o -l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h i s n e c e s s a r y f o r p r o g r e s s i n p s y c h o l -o g y , o r n o t ?

Y e s / N o ~ N o t s u r e4 . S o m e p e o p l e s ay t h a t f u n d s f o r a n i m a l r e s e a r c h w o u l d

b e b e t t e r s p e n t s t u d y i n g h u m a n s . O t h e r s f e el t h a t

f u n d i n g f o r a n i m a l r e s e a r c h s h o u l d b e m a i n t a i n e do r in c r e a se d . W h a t i s y o u r o p i n i o n ?

D e c r e a s e ~ M a i n t a i n ~ I n c r e a s e5 . I f p s y c h o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h o n a n i m a l s w e r e b a n n e di n th e f u t u r e , h o w w o u l d t h i s af f e c t y o u rw o r k ?

S e r i o u s l y h a m p e r / H a v e a m i n o r e f fe c t / H a v e noe f fe c t w h a t s o e v e r

6 . I n g e n e r al , h o w d o y o u f e el a b o u t t h e l eg a l r e g u l a t i o n sg o v e r n i n g a n i m a l r e s e a rc h ?

S h o u l d b e t o u g h e r a n d ~ o r m o r e i n cl u si v e~ A r ea d e q u a t e a n d s h o u l d b e m a i n t a i n e d / A r e e x c es -s i ve a n d s h o u l d b e r e d u c e d

N o v e m b e r 1 9 9 6 ~ ( m e r i c a n P s y c h o l o g i s t 1 1 7 9


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7. Federal regulations protect the "psychological well-being" of primates used in research. Do you supportor oppose the idea of protecting the psychologicalwell-being of primates?Support/Oppose/Not sure8. Before being granted approval to run an experiment,investigators in Great Britain, Canada, and theNetherlands are required to assess the degree of painanimals may experience. Would you support or op-pose a similar requirement in the United States?Support/Oppose/Not sure9. As far as you know, are the an

plous - attitudes toward the use of animals in psychological research and education

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