Animal Experimentation in Psychological Research

This section discusses the reasons for using animals in psychological research and provides examples to support the argument. It also explores the concept of homology and how it relates to using animals in research. Examples of animals used in different psychological studies are provided.

Psychology
Biological Psychology
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Psychology
Part A: Animal Experimentation
Most of the researchers use animals for scientific research. The aim of using the animal subject
for scientific research is to gain insight into medical and behavioral concepts. The author uses
animals so as to maintain experiments which are necessary for research. The section reveals
reasons for using animals for scientific research with the support of two examples as outlined by
different authors in their research.
Reasons why the author uses animals in psychological research.
Researchers use animals to solve a research problem. Most of the psychologists are interested in
human behavior and that's why they prefer animals for a practical reason. For instance, we have
psychologist's researchers who do study an animal that has a shorter life span than a human
(Padulo,Oliva, Frizziero & Maffulli, 2016). This means that most of the experiments prefer
animals since there is strict control whereby the animals can be provided with adequate resources
such as food while in the laboratory units. In addition, the experiments using animals are able to
control genetics by breeding the animals in the laboratory. This shows that psychologists study
animals due to fewer ethical considerations whereby on use of human beings some variables
cannot be controlled. Different researchers argue that neuropsychologist can prefer to use
animals to handle brain surgery or hormone manipulation than using human beings. This shows
that researchers tend to avoid risks associated with using human when experimenting with vital
concepts.
For example
In developmental psychology, researchers can use animals such as dogs, chicken, and wildlife to
solve a certain problem. Dogs can be trained as watchdogs. Chicken on another hand can be

Psychology
trained on to stop fighting one another in their habitat and the wildlife can be trained on how to
control the population is a process known as applied research (Harriss, MacSween & Atkinson,
2017).
In addition, the other reason for describing the use of animals in research include the concept of
homology. Most of the animals are believed to have similar physical and behavioral features as
human beings. Psychologists prefer to carry research using this type of animals because they
have the same genetic blueprint. Reports indicate that those animals with similar behavior as
human beings are expensive to maintain thus not used when there are other alternatives during
the study (Evans,Pearce, Vitak & Treem,2016). Through the issue of homology, researchers tend
to get the concept of analogy thus referring animals in research than human beings. This shows
that some of the animals have similar lifestyles as a human subject.
For example
The use of monkeys and chimpanzees shows the concept of homology. Monkeys and
chimpanzees are believed to have similar hormones with human beings thus preferred when
psychologists want to test the effects of some drugs on human immunology.
In addition animals such as rats are preferred for analogy concepts where psychologists tend to
study their lifestyles with human beings. Rats are believed to be social animals as human beings.
In addition, rats are believed to have common eating habits as human beings and that's why they
do live around human habitats (Balding & Williams, 2016). The other animals used are the pigs
which are used to study the effects of stress in human subjects. Pigs are believed to experience
the same magnitude of stress as human beings.

Psychology
Part B: Genetic Research Methods
Genetic research methods help researchers to understand different roles of genetic factors in
different individuals. The study focuses on identifying genetic content and environmental factors
which causes individual differences. The studies are also used to identify how specific genes are
responsible for genetic influence in individuals.
Two genetic research methods with examples and how they are used to study genetic factors.
The DNA sequencing
Refers to the process of identifying the nucleic acidic sequence. The main issue at this process is
to determine the nucleotide in DNA. Different researchers have argued that DNA sequencing
involves the study of four bases in DNA that is adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Each
base plays a key role in genetic development within individuals (Pettersson, Larsson &
Lichtenstein, 2016). DNA sequencing method has been used in different fields to determine the
genetic composition of a cell. Reports show that DNA sequencing is a vital process needed in
genetic analysis in different research. The research method develops genetic sequencing for a
particular organism thus aiding in getting genotypes and phenotypes within the organism.
Example.
DNA sequencing has become a key research method in different fields. In evolutionary biology
the process is used to get the macromolecule which helps in the transmission of genes in DNA.
Also, DNA sequencing is used to determine how different organisms are related and how they

Psychology
have evolved. In addition in molecular biology, the research method is used to study protein
structure and genomes. The information obtained in DNA sequencing can be used to identify
changes in genes and also study of diseases in phenotypes (Zhu, Zhang,Hu,Bakshi,Robinson,
Powell & Yang, 2016).
The other method is the predictive and presymptomatic research method. The research method is
used for detecting gene mutations which is related to different disorders which appear after birth
and also in late life. The main aim of the method is to detect disorders which are transmitted
from one generation to another in the family lineage. The DNAs are extracted and appropriate
procedures are taken to detect the mutation features (Conomos et al., 2016).
Example
The research method is used to detect the spread of disorders in organisms such as in cancer
therapy. For instance, in determining the spread of cancer the process is used to determine
whether a person will develop a certain genetic disorder (Conomos et al., 2016).
Part C: Hit in the Ear.
Difficulties experienced in the ear (Pficer, Dodic, Lazic,Trajkovic, Milic & Milicic,2017).
Some of the effects which I will experience the following day after ear injury include;
Severe headache which may cause discomfort during the work.

Psychology
Increased discomfort especially when talking in work. This may be due to dame caused to the
eardrum thus increased discomfort.
Increased feeling of fullness in the ear as there is much swelling on the eardrum thus unable to
work promptly and efficiently.
Increased pain and also continuous pain especially swaying the head side to side. This may be
due to damage caused to the eardrum.

Psychology
References
Balding, M., & Williams, K. J. (2016). Plant blindness and the implications for plant
conservation. Conservation Biology, 30(6), 1192-1199.
Conomos, M. P., Laurie, C. A., Stilp, A. M., Gogarten, S. M., McHugh, C. P., Nelson, S. C., ...
& Young, K. L. (2016). Genetic diversity and association studies in US Hispanic/Latino
populations: applications in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. The
American Journal of Human Genetics, 98(1), 165-184.
Evans, S. K., Pearce, K. E., Vitak, J., & Treem, J. W. (2016). Explicating affordances: A
conceptual framework for understanding affordances in communication research. Journal
of Computer-Mediated Communication, 22(1), 35-52.
Harriss, D. J., MacSween, A., & Atkinson, G. (2017). Standards for ethics in sport and exercise
science research: 2018 update. International journal of sports medicine, 38(14), 1126-
1131.
Padulo, J., Oliva, F., Frizziero, A., & Maffulli, N. (2016). Muscles, Ligaments and Tendons
Journal–Basic principles and recommendations in clinical and field Science Research:
2016 Update. Muscles, ligaments and tendons journal, 6(1), 1.
Pettersson, E., Larsson, H., & Lichtenstein, P. (2016). Common psychiatric disorders share the
same genetic origin: a multivariate sibling study of the Swedish population. Molecular
psychiatry, 21(5), 717.

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Pficer, J. K., Dodic, S., Lazic, V., Trajkovic, G., Milic, N., & Milicic, B. (2017). Occlusal
stabilization splint for patients with temporomandibular disorders: Meta-analysis of short
and long term effects. PloS one, 12(2), e0171296.
Zhu, Z., Zhang, F., Hu, H., Bakshi, A., Robinson, M. R., Powell, J. E., ... & Yang, J. (2016).
Integration of summary data from GWAS and eQTL studies predicts complex trait gene
targets. Nature genetics, 48(5), 481.