Ethics Of Animal Testing

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The ethics of using animals for research on learning should be clearly thought out before a study or experiment takes place. The purpose of research with animals should have a clear scientific purpose, increase understanding of the species that is under study, and provide results that will benefit the health and welfare of other animals or humans (APA, 2017). Not only are psychologists’ required to follow these guidelines, they must make sure other personnel involved, like veterinarians and caretakers, also follow these guidelines (APA, 2017). While the American Psychological Association has this code of ethics that gives specific guidelines for the use of nonhuman animals in research, there have been many discussions and changes on the regulations…show more content…
One of the arguments is that animal testing is usually not reliable when it comes to being replicated in human clinical tests (Gross & Tolba, 2015). When it comes to testing on animals on research for learning, there are three main argument positions; the first is that researchers should not carry out animal based experiments under any circumstances, the second is that researchers should only be allowed to carry out animal testing under some circumstances, and the third is that researchers should be allowed to carry out any animal testing that they deem to be useful (Gross & Tolba, 2015). The first argument and the third argument are extremist points of view, one being by animal rights activists and one being by people who lack an ethical position (Gross & Tolba, 2015). Most people fall somewhere in the second argument and, as long as the APA guidelines are followed, it is ethical to use animals for research on…show more content…
The way that subjects learn is through complex processes involving both conscious and unconscious processes (Spielman, 2014). Pavlovian conditioning, also known as classical conditioning, is considered to be a simple form of learning. Pavlovian conditioning is considered to be a simple form of learning because it is associative learning. Associative learning happens because of connections made between stimuli or events that happen together (Spielman, 2017). Since classical conditioning tends to involve unconscious processes, many people think it is a simple form of learning. However, this form of learning can trigger a reflex and can be trained to trigger the same reflex in different ways, shown in operant conditioning. One of the reasons that Pavlovian conditioning is not a simple learning process, is because there are associations that occur between stimuli. These associations can change from stimuli to stimuli. For example, if a dog salivates from a bell ringing, that does not mean the dog will salivate from a cell phone ringing. The way that associations between responses differ show how Pavlovian conditioning is not a simple learning
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