BPS Guidelines for Psychologists working with animals-2007

1. BPS Guidelines for Psychologists working with animals-2007

2. Do the ends ever justify the means? • Each person will have their own views on this. • Is the animal suffering caused by certain types of reseach outweighed by the benefits to humanity? • Bateson (1986) expressed this as a 3D graph • AS Brain book – pg255+ • A2 Brain book – pg309 • The majority of this PP should be a recap – is here for your revision!

3. Bateson cube

4. The cube has 3 axes measuring suffering, certainty of benefit and quality of research. • If the research is high quality, certain to be beneficial and not going to inflict suffering then it will fall into the hollow section(top front) meaning research should proceed. • Painful, low quality research with lower likelihood of success will be bottom back in the solidand should not proceed. • Most research will not be clear cut but the rule is solid should not continue, hollow should • The problem of course is how to determine benefit in advance.  Also who will decide on quality of research and the level of suffering?  Both of which are subjective measures.

5. The 3 Rs • Replacement of animals by other methods such as computer models and simulations. 2. Reduction in the number of animals used.  More advanced statistical methods can be used allowing significant results based on lower numbers.  Sharing of information between institutions allows the number of replications to be reduced. 3. Refinement of experimental methods to inflict less pain and suffering.

6. BPS Guidelines for Psychologists working with animals-2007 States: Psychologists must adhere to the legal requirements of the country they are working in. Psychologists have to be aware of endangered species or threatened species and act appropriately. Research must be prefaced with a covering letter stating this.

7. Replacing use of animals Videos and computer simulations have to be used where possible. Ideal for teaching situations. e.g. Ratlife and Sniffy the Rat

8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h8L96WHXn4 – link on picture previous slide…

9. BPS Guidelines for Psychologists working with animals-2007 • Choice of species and strain Species should be carefully chosen to ensure effectiveness with minimal suffering-knowledge of species and history of individual animals vital Choices have to be justified on project licence application Different strains of rodents are physiologically different and need to be chosen carefully. Transgenic mice may be used as no harm to organism is observed.

11. BPS Guidelines for Psychologists working with animals-2007 • Number of animals 1986 Act-legally required to use smallest number of animals possible National Centre for 3Rs (Replacement, Refinement and Reduction) can provide advice on how the use of better methodologies/designs and statistical analysis can help achieve this.

12. BPS Guidelines for Psychologists working with animals-2007 • Procedures Project licence Registered establishment Personal licence Local ethical review process (Committee) Home Office Identify costs to animals in reports/journals

13. BPS Guidelines for Psychologists working with animals-2007 • Procedures (contd) Housing- caging needs to take into account the social behaviour of species Reward, deprivation, aversive stimulation- periods of deprivation of food should be short and species specific Aggression and predation- natural encounters preferable if staged animals should be protected Fieldwork- should not disturb the ecosystem or interrupt species reproduction and survival Anaesthesia, analgesia and euthanasia- animals should have access to pain relief and be destroyed humanely if suffering

14. BPS Guidelines for Psychologists working with animals-2007 • Procurement Home Office Designated Breeding and Supply Establishments. Wild caught animals- refer to ASAB website

15. BPS Guidelines for Psychologists working with animals-2007 • Animal Care Housing and husbandry conditions must be within guidelines Captive animals should be kept in conditions closely resembling their natural conditions as much as possible Need to foster habituation to minimise stress Animal care personnel must be trained

16. BPS Guidelines for Psychologists working with animals-2007 • Disposing of animals Distribute to other colleagues if deemed possible by home office If disposed of- it must be done humanely Death must be confirmed before disposal Vets must be consulted

17. BPS Guidelines for Psychologists working with animals-2007 • Animals in psychology teaching Teachers have a responsibility to educate pupils on ethical issues Coursework on animals may be possible but tests to show known facts are prohibited Use of film/video should be encouraged Undergraduates must work within a project licence Post graduates need personal licence

18. Sometimes it is hard to justify!

19. Randrup and Munkvad, (1966) • Aim: to see whether schizophrenia-like symptoms could be induce in non-human animals by giving them amphetamines. • Method: Injecting rats with doses of 1-20 mg/kg of amphetamines. They then went on to test chickens, pigeons, cats, dogs and squirrels. • Results: Symptoms similar to schizophrenia were recorded including stereotypical activity. • Conclusion: Study supports the Dopamine Hypothesis of schizophrenia.

20. Wood et al., (1998) • Aim: to look at how genes affect schizophrenia in rats • Method: Bred rats with a genetic variation believed to be associated with schizophrenia in humans. • Results: Genetically modified rats were apathetic and socially withdrawn (negative symptoms of schizophrenia) • Conclusion: Study supports the role of genes in schizophrenia.

21. Evaluation of animal studies: Strengths • Important in developing new drugs that can be used to treat symptoms of schizophrenia in humans. • Easy way to do experiments in order to understand the role of genetics in schizophrenia • Can do research that would be ethically wrong to do on humans

22. Evaluation of animal studies: Weaknesses • The nervous system between rats and humans is not the same, and different parts of the brain are different sizes (e.g., the fore-brain in humans is huge and the cortex is larger) • Cannot replicate schizophrenia in mice, only approximate symptoms of schizophrenia • Is it ethically okay to use animals for psychological research?

23. Over to you • Read and make key point notes from your text book, materials on the Blog – ethical guidelines are worth a look at • Re-read the Caster study – this could be the study you choose for animal research (or you could use one mentioned today…) this is on pg 25 of your packs Complete pages 26-28 in your packs S & C: plan an answer for the following question: Describe at least three ethical guidelines that researchers should follow when conducting psychological research using animals. Assess the ethical issues of two or more studies using human participants that you have learned about during your course. (18) • Recap of the spec…. • Describe and evaluate TWO research methods used in the study of schizophrenia, including one study for each of the two research methods

24. 18mark question M/S Remember when answering an 18 mark synoptic question you are trying to create an ‘argument’.. look for words like ‘assess, discuss – they are trying you to get to the heart of the matter. In the case of the animal ethics exam question, it was ‘should animals ever be used in research?…..forget the guidelines…is it ethical? • 18 mark Animal ethics HW feedback – This question was divided into 3 parts for marking. • Part 1 required you to describe 3 ethical guidelines which need to be considered if animals are being used. Some of you lost marks by not mentioning the BPS guidelines or the 1985 Act (legislation laid down by the home office) • Part 2 – said you needed to ‘assess’ research that uses animals. This means you are required to make an argument. It does not simply mean evaluate a couple of animal studies which is what most of you did! Did the means justify the end? Was there an alternative method available etc • Part 3 – marks were awarded for use of grammar, spelling, paragraphs, introduction, conclusion and quality of argument – i.e did you make one?

25. Description • The researchers need to ensure that the animals are kept in adequate conditions in terms of space, food and water • Rhesus monkeys need to have social contact as they are a social species • Any procedures undertaken should keep discomfort to a minimum • As few animals as possible should be used given the nature of the research • The team will require a Home Office Licence and be able to demonstrate their competence in undertaking the research project • The team perhaps ought to look at whether it would be possible to use a species such as rats in preference to monkeys • Researchers should always consider the cost-benefit balance using the Bateson cube or a similar strategy