[sci.psychology] Annals of Research: Expert Comment

roberts@polya.STANFORD.EDU (Paul Roberts) (04/27/88)

``The stale exercise in futility called animal model psychological
  research has become a pathetic embarrassment to those of us in the
  mental health profession who truly care about understanding human
  psychology and improving people's psychological well-being. It is time
  to expose this scientific fraud for what is it and to abandon it in
  favor of research methods which yield results that can apply to, and
  can affect, the human condition.''

			Murry J. Cohen, M.D.
			Medical Research Modernization Committee




``Over 250 maternal deprivation studies [the separation of newborn
  kittens, puppies, and other animals from their mothers] have been
  conducted to date. These experiments have cost over $57,000,000,
  provided primarily by the federal goverment. Over 7,000 animals were
  subject to procedures that induced stress, despair, anxiety, general
  psychological devastation, or even death. The results of this research
  had little impact on clinical practice ...''

			Martin L. Stephens, Ph.D.




``Experimental psychology is particularly fiendish because it is the
  only area of research in which animals are deliberately tortured as
  part of the experiment's design. And it the area of research where the
  greatest amount of suffering is created by the least amount of good.''

			Dr. John McArdie
			Former director of the Laboratory Animal Welfare
			Humane Society of the United States.




``What we worry about is cage space, cleanliness, training of animal
  caretakers and nutrition. The organisation cannot say anything about
  what the animals are used for, so it's like being a good concentration
  camp guard ... Somebody has to start asking, `What are you doing in
  those laboratories?' ''

			Dr. Harold Feinberg
			Former National Chairman for the American
			 Association for Acreditation of Lab Animal Care.

vu0112@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu (Cliff Joslyn) (04/27/88)

Polya: I notice that your quotations refer almost exclusively to
psychological research on animals.  Do you have a position on
non-psychological medical research?


-- 
O---------------------------------------------------------------------->
| Cliff Joslyn, Cybernetician at Large
| Systems Science, SUNY Binghamton, vu0112@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu
V All the world is biscuit shaped. . .

jwm@stdc.jhuapl.edu (James W. Meritt) (04/28/88)

Mind dating your abstracts so that I, and others, might get a concept of
their currency and "rate" of offense?  Thank-you.


Disclaimer: Individuals have opinions, organizations have policy.
            Therefore, these opinions are mine and not any organizations!
Q.E.D.
jwm@aplvax.jhuapl.edu 128.244.65.5