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The
Student Rights Option:
Objecting
to the Use of Animals in
Psychology
Classrooms
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Animals,
Psychology, and You
Do
you find it objectionable to participate in psychology
animal labs? If so, then you are part of an increasing
number of psychology students who find the use
of animals in these labs unacceptable.
The
labs you may take part in might require you to
watch a rat run through a maze, to shock a rat,
to starve mice, or even remove part of the brain
of a small mammal. Whatever the case may be, you
are entitled to refuse to do such procedures.
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| The
Student Rights Option
As a student, you have the power
of choice. You can act on your conscience. When you
are asked to participate in any procedure involving
an animal that makes you uncomfortable, you have the
right to say NO. The experiment might be painful, crippling,
or fatal to the animal; or it might be as simple as
observing a confined animal. But no matter what is being
done, you have the right to say NO .
As
more students have exercised their right to say NO,
student rights have been pushed into the public eye.
Jennifer Graham, a high school biology student in California,
refused to dissect an animal which had been killed for
that purpose. She took her case to a federal court,
resulting in national media coverage.
Psychology
students are objecting too. A group of undergraduates
at a Colorado university were told to perform mutilating
surgery on rats. They said NO. Students at a Connecticut
college were required to participate in a lab in which
rats were deprived of food, conditioned and killed after
the lab. They said NO. Other students have objected
to pro-animal research bias in exam questions, professors'
refusal to support thesis proposals on animal welfare
topics, instrumental attitudes towards animals conveyed
in textbooks, etc.
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Laws
and Policies
California, Florida, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, Maine, New York, and Louisiana
have passed laws or advisories which require
high schools (but not colleges) to provide an
alternative exercise to students who object.
Thirty percent of colleges and universities
also have taken the sensible and humane step
of adopting student rights policies. If you
take a psychology course at one of these institutions,
your professor must 1) inform you of your right
to refuse to participate in animal labs and
2) provide a suitable alternative. If you go
to a school that does not have such a policy,
there are a number of things you can do - see
below.
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can I do in the Classroom?
If
you feel the least bit uncomfortable with the way lab
animals are being used in a lab you should:
- Arrange a meeting with your professor
- Explain how you feel about seeing
animals used in the classroom. Be polite but firm.
- Ask your professor to excuse you,
without penalty, from the lab
- You might suggest some alternatives
such as those listed below.
If
your professor will not accommodate you, protest to
the following:
- First, the head of the Psychology
department
- Next, your school or university's
Animal Care and Use Committee (required by all schools
that conduct animal research)
- Finally, the Dean of the College
Standing
your ground
Remember: Your refusal to participate
in animal labs is protected under the free exercise
of religion clause of the First Amendment of the United
States Constitution. Requiring you to harm, cripple,
kill, or use animals in any way violates your rights
if your objection is based on a sincerely held belief.
Don't be intimidated by a professor's threats to fail
you, or by peer pressure to participate in labs where
animals are being used. You are on sound legal and ethical
ground.
What
if my School doesn't have such a Policy?
If you are interested in helping
to put together a student rights policy at your school,
call Society & Animals Forum at 301-963-4751 or
email us at kshapiro@societyandanimalsforum.org
. We have speakers to send to your campus, tips on how
to organize, and sample student rights policies - all
of which can help you get a policy established.
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| Alternatives:By
Course
Learning
- Sniffy, the Virtual Rat. Operant
conditioning. Brooks/Cole Publishing, Monterey , CA
93940
- OpRat. Operant conditioning. Crofter
Publishing, 4546 South Semoran, #690 W, Orlando ,
FL 32822
- Shaping Behavior. Life Sciences
Associates, 1 Fenimore Rd. , Bayport NY 11705-2115
- The World of Sidney Slug and His
Friends. Shaping, differential reinforcement, punishment,
extinction. Associates in Analysis of Behavior, 16-2330
Harbor Rd. , Sudney , BC V8L 2P8 Canada
- Laboratory in Classical Conditioning.
Includes suppression, taste aversion. Conduit, U.
of Iowa - Oakdale, Iowa City , IA 52242
- CC Dog. Classical conditioning.
Includes higher-order conditioning, variable inter-stimulus
interval. Crofter Publishing, 4546 South Semoran,
#690 W, Orlando , FL 32822
- Alley Rat Pack. Hullian learning
principles. Crofter Publishing, 4546 South Semoran,
#690 W, Orlando , FL 32822
Animal
Behavior
- Animal Behavior Data Simulation.
25 animal experiments. Oakleaf Systems, PO Box 472
, Decorah , IA 52101
- FIRM: Vol III, Comparative Psychology.
Simulates six data-generating research models, e.g.,
behavior genetics, hormones and aggression. Conduit,
University of Iowa - Oakdale Campus, Iowa City , IA
52242
Physiological
Psychology
- NeuralSim.
Simulates properties of nervous system of squid. Starpak,
237 22nd St., Greeley, CO 80631
- Neurosys.
Simulates basic parameters of nerve cell function.
Herbert Levitan, Zoology Dept., Univ. of Maryland
, College Park , MD 20742
- Physiological
Stimulation Software. Includes concepts of pharmacology.
James E. Randall, 609 S. Jordan, Bloomington , IN
47401
- Psychology
Video Lab Series. Neuroscience and physiology. Allyn
and Bacon, College Division, Rockleigh , NJ 07647
- Anton, B.S.
(April 1995). The Biology Project: Self-monitoring
as a laboratory for physiological psychology. Teaching
of Psychology, 22, 2, 130-131. Regulative physiology
problems using student as their own subject.
Experimental
Psychology
- ABI - 1,2, and 3. Animated simulations
of psychological experiments. Artificial Behavior,
Inc. 2124 Kittredge, Suite 215 , Berkeley , CA 94794
- MEL Lab: Experiments in Perception,
Cognition, Social Psychology, & Human Factors.
Simulates 27 classic experiments. Psychology Software
Tools, Inc., 511 Bevington Rd. , Pittsburgh PA 15221
- START: Tools for Experiments in
Memory, Learning, Cognition, and Perception. Contains
15 programs of computer-aided instrumentation in conducting
research, e.g., tachistoscope, memory drum. Conduit,
University of Iowa - Oakdale Campus, Iowa City , IA
52242
- Psych Lab. Perception, memory, and
learning. Queue, Inc., 338 Commence Drive, Fairfield
, CT 06430
- For a listing of available software
see Computer Use in Psychology: A Directory of Software.
(1992, 3rd edition). American Psychological Association,
750 First St., NE, Washington, DC 20002
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