Animal models of human psychology

by Kenneth Joel Shapiro

When is animal research necessity and when is it cruelty? Animal Models of Human Psychology is a breakthrough text that presents the first empirically based system of analysis to determine the answer to this much-debated question. Taking psychological eating disorders as a case study, Shapiro examines the costs and benefits associated with using nonhuman animals to study human phenomena. He uses social scientific analytic methods and original data to assess the effectiveness of current research, applying a combination of historical, conceptual, ethical, and political analyses to the use of animal models. This combination of elements makes Animal Models of Human Psychology a revolutionary text, which criticizes both the scientists who use animal models, as well as animal support groups which condemn such activities without a rigorous analysis of each situation.