102 • Alternatives to Animal Use in Research, Testing f and Education 
ciples of learning, for example, was initially de- 
rived from research on animals. Likewise, a vari- 
ety of therapeutic techniques (e.g., desensitization) 
were derived from work with animals. Human 
studies were done to verify what was learned 
from animal research and to gauge the limits of 
extrapolation from animals to humans. 
Practical Application to Animal Species 
In addition to providing models of a variety of 
biomedical and psychological problems in hu- 
mans, research on animal behavior is in many in- 
stances focused on benefits to the animals them- 
selves. For example, an understanding of behavior 
has proved crucial for designing optimal captive 
environments for the protection and breeding of 
endangered species (55). Increased attention has 
also been paid to the behavior of farm animals. 
The study of mother-infant attachments, social 
behavior in groups, stress resulting from over- 
crowding and confinement, and habitat prefer- 
ences has led to important insights into farm- 
animal welfare and husbandry (13,27,54). 
It is also noteworthy in this context that knowl- 
edge gained about behavioral problems in humans 
through animal research is now being applied to 
animals. Effective treatments have been devel- 
oped for aggressive problems in cats (5) and fears 
and phobias in dogs (24,58). 
A knowledge of animal behavior has helped 
identify and solve ecologic problems. The discov- 
ery and subsequent synthesis of insect sex attrac- 
tants, or pheromones, has important implications 
for the control of agricultural pests. Rather than 
having to use toxic pesticides applied over vast 
areas, there is already some application and much 
future potential in baiting traps with specific 
pheromones, which precludes environmental 
contamination. 
One unique application of laboratory findings 
to the solution of ecologic problems involved stud- 
ies of taste -aversion conditioning in rats (18). Re- 
searchers paired unpleasant, chemical- or radia- 
tion-induced illness with different flavors. After 
just one or two trials, rats developed highly dura- 
ble aversions to the flavors paired with unpleasant 
stimuli. Outside the laboratory, by pairing lithi- 
um-chloride-induced illness with the flesh of vari- 
ous prey species, it is now possible to control coy- 
ote attacks on sheep and turkeys (14). Indeed, one 
or two trials is sufficient to eliminate attacks on 
specific domestic farm animals but leave the coy- 
ote free to feed on alternative prey (22). 
This procedure has recently been extended to 
reducing crop damage by crows and even appears 
to have promise for dealing with cancer patients 
undergoing radiation therapy (1). (A frequent 
complication of radiation therapy has been un- 
pleasant gastrointestinal illness that the patient 
generalizes to all food; the patient may be una- 
ble to eat. Using the principles of conditioned taste 
aversion developed in rats, it is now possible to 
circumvent the problem by restricting patients 
to one particular kind of food during radiation 
treatment, so that the aversion that develops is 
specific to that food alone.) 
Individual Animals in the 
Service of Humans 
behavioral research occasionally centers on a 
trait of a particular species that may be especially 
well suited to assist humans. For example, using 
animals to help handicapped persons has required 
a knowledge of animal behavior. Seeing -eye guide 
dogs, usually German shepherds or golden re- 
trievers, assist the blind (20), and trained capu- 
chin monkeys perform as aides for quadriplegics 
(63). Pet dogs and cats have been shown to have 
therapeutic value for psychiatric patients (10), the 
handicapped (12), and the elderly (49), and they 
may even hold promise for alleviating depression 
resulting from loss of a child (57). 
Methods of Behavioral Research . 
The methods of behavioral research are as var- 
ied as the disciplines, but most fall into one of 
three general categories: field studies and natural- 
istic observation; developmental studies; and lab- 
oratory studies. 
Field studies represent an attempt to examine 
the behavior in question as it occurs under natu- 
ral circumstances. Such studies do not typically 
involve attempts to manipulate or control the con- 
ditions of observation. Watching animals in nat- 
ural conditions has frequently been suggested as 
