| Animal
Models of Human Psychology is
a must-read for psychologists
and everyone else concerned with the important,
urgent, and controversial issues of animal
experiments for advancing human health care.
"This
is the most intelligent and carefully argued
critique of animal research that has yet been
published. Dr. Shapiro challenges the
claim that animal models provide useful results...and
develops a thesis that cannot be dismissed
as ignorant, emotional, or misrepresenting
animal research." -- Andrew
Rowan, DPhil, Professor of Veterinary Medicine,
Tufts University.
"After
surveying current research practices and model
development strategies, the author examines
animal models of eating disorders from both
scientific and ethical points of view.
He exposes logical inconsistencies in the
study of animals as models for human behavior,
and concludes that such research has little
to contribute. The foreword is by noted
chimpanzee-researcher Jane Goodall." -- Book News, Inc.®, Portland,
OR.
"Shapiro
gives a good look at his own reflections on
the animal issue with scholarship that is
uniquely thorough and direct. He manages
to hold a steady mirror up to our assumptions
and our work in a manner that is sometimes
gently educative, at other times confrontive,
but always difficult to ignore. Most
books inform, this one can motivate change." -- John P. Gluck, PhD, Professor of
Psychology, University of New Mexico.
Animal Models of Human Psychology contributes
to the debate on our treatment of nonhuman
animals in research by providing an empirical
method for evaluating the benefits of the
research and the costs to the animals.
The usual "costs-to-the animal vs. human-benefits"
arguments simply have not been based on empirical
findings. But they could be. By
offering additional science-based methods
of evaluation, the book attempts to make the
case against animal-based research stronger.
The
book uses a set of animal models of human
eating disorders (ED), notably bulimia and
anorexia, as a case in point for its evaluation
methods. Despite the many animal models
that have been developed to study ED, it is
found that the more successful forms of treatment
do not derive from animal models of those
disorders. Further, a citation analysis
of major animal models of ED shows that these
studies are relatively infrequently cited
in the scientific literature. And finally,
when asked in a survey whether they knew of
the existence of animal models of ED, 60%
of clinicians said they did not know such
models existed, 67% could not name or describe
any of the several models, and 87% indicated
that animal models of ED did not influence
their treatment approach!
While
opponents and proponents of animal research
continue their debate, a major survey of psychologists'
attitudes toward animal research published
in the "American Psychologist" found
that over 90% of psychologists who are primarily
practitioners rather than researchers indicated
that they rarely, never, or only occasionally
used findings from psychological research
on animals. But
the animal researchers and professional organizations
promoting their interests march on.
In
order to make a more effective and persuasive
case, animal rights advocates need to justify
their positions with careful evaluative methods.
Animal Models of Human Psychology,
written to be accessible to nonscientists
as well as scientists, presents and applies
such scientific methods.
We
encourage Society & Animals Forum members, and others who are concerned about
rationally-based arguments about the use of
animals in research, to inform themselves
and their colleagues about the arguments and
the facts. The professional groups who
represent animal researchers will not do it. And the animals cannot speak for themselves.
Animal
Models of Human Psychology is available
at a discounted price to Society & Animals
Forum Members!
To order
Animal Models of Human Psychology, go to our
secure online
ordering page
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