Psychologists choose to use non-human animals in their research because they are fascinating to study in their own right, their development of ethology (the biological study of behaviour) has been based on such goals although some of the methods used are also open to ethical concerns. One of the most common ways of experimenting in the field of psychology with non-human animals is to apply electric shocks. But not everyone agrees with this form of study.

The essence of the practical argument into why animals shouldn't be used is that animal experiments would not tell us anything of any value about human behaviour because of the dissimilarities between humans and non-humans. According to Cardwell the extreme ethical position may contend that pain or distress is never justifiable in animal research regardless of the benefits of human mankind. If they are used to tell us something about human behaviour then there should be no sufficient similarity between brains and behaviour. If not then

The ethical problems of field experiments (which account for 46% of research papers between 1986 and 1990) start as we initially believe that the study of animals in their natural environment is better than putting them in a laboratory. Other ethical problems with field experiments are the use of animals is normally focused on laboratory research with animals, discreet observations and non-interference with the animals being studied, how animals react to stress and suffering; their insights are therefore vital if animals are to be used in psychological research. Ethical research tends not to be of any direct benefit to human beings. Field experiments alter the natural environment of the animal this is tampering with nature in order to understand it. (See Garcia and Koelling 1966 study)

Non-trivial handling- repeated trappings in order for radio tagging procedures to take place, can lead to stress from capture.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Garcia Koelling, Jane Goodall's, , Nim Kanzi's, According Cardwell, Harlow Suomi, Washoe Nim, Peter Singer, University Colorado, natural environment, animals research, non-human animals, garcia koelling, psychological research, animals psychological, field experiments, quality research, animal research, animal suffering, animals psychological research, garcia koelling 1966, choose non-human animals, ethical field experiments, non-human animals research,
Approximate Word count = 1273
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)