Introduction To Animal Psychology

Introduction : Animal Psychology is referred to as the branch of psychology concerned with behaviour of animals other than humans. It is multidisciplinary field also designned to study cognitive processes of non -humans. There are many areas of inquiry like ethology, general psychology and evolutionary biology. The findings bear a great significance not only on our general knowledge of behaviours of other speices but also on human social sciences.

It examines the differences or lack thereof in observed behaviours. Disparities among the species can be used to assess what may or may not be considered 'normal' animal behaviour. It focusses on the ability of animal to learn, pay attention, create organizing and to think in a abstract manner.

5. Animals and humans are so biologically similar, they are suscepitble to many of the same conditions and illnesses including heart diseases, cancer and diabetes.

6. Animals must be used in cases when ethical considerations prevent the use of human subjects.

6. Some experiments involve genetic manipulation that would be unacceptable to impose on human subjects before animal testing.

7. Animals themselves benefit from the results of animal testing. Such as, if vaccines were not tested on animals, millions of animals would have died of rabies , distemper , leukemia , tetanus and many more diseases.

8. Animals research is highly regulated, with laws in place to protect animals from mistreatment.

Animal research has been regulated by the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) since 1966. It also requires regular inspections by veterinarians.

9. Animals often make better research subjects than human beings because of their shorter life cycles.

Mice and rats are particulary are well suited to cancer research partly because of their short lifespans.

10. Animals do not have rights so therefore it is acceptable to experiment on

But, apart from it there are many benefits of animal psychology. In my opinion i would say animal research should be carried on for the behavioural and disease identification. As animal psychology as an up and coming field has a lot of explanatory potential for the human and non human animals. By comparing the behaviour of humans with other species, we can potentially better separate biological from environmental or ecologically influenced behaviours. By understanding the behaviour of non humans we not only learn more about ourselves but we stand to acquire a more detailed understanding of behavioural mechnisms and also the process of natural selection that pertains to social and behavioural traits. The results of it has brought recovery from various diseases such as brain damage , heart diseases , cancer , rabies etc, which were major threats to the enriched environment. In the forthcoming years, this could be achieved far more reliably and that too without the infliction of pain and misery to the non humans. It also brings an interesting insight into the animal world. To sum up, science has and will continue to perform various forms of animal research insteading of testing harmful substances on human