Hawk blows the whistle on lab rats
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is prompting UHCL to stop using live rats in its psychology laboratories. PETA was contacted earlier this year by a UHCL student concerned about the well-being of rats used in the Learning Principles psychology class.
“We received a whistleblowers report about rats used in the psychology 5235 course,” said Samantha Suiter, science education specialist for PETA. “Those rats were being deprived of food for extended periods of time so that they were driven by hunger to cooperate.”
PETA reports the concerned student witnessed her rat sitting frightened and motionless in the corner of the training chamber and that other rats cried out when handled by the students.
Learning Principles, also known as PSYC 5235, is a graduate course designed to give students first-hand experience with operant conditioning.
Sarah Lechago, assistant professor in General Psychology and Behavior Analysis, said the course “uses live rats to introduce students to the principle of learning and the field of behavior analysis.”
Ona Mull, psychology major and previous student in Learning Principles, explained that rats were trained to receive food pellets in a basic cage.
“Over time, [rats] were trained to press the lever to dispense food for themselves,” Mull said. “Then, they were trained to press the lever only in the presence of a light turned on. And ultimately, they were trained to pull a chain to turn on the light.”
PETA is urging UHCL to use alternative methods for teaching operant conditioning.
“PETA is calling on the University of Houston in Clear Lake to modernize its curriculum by replacing these cruel experiments with superior simulations,” Suiter said. “Studies show that software simulation programs are attentive at teaching undergrad psychology and neuroscience students. There have been many comparative studies that have found students who are taught with these sorts of simulations, and other non-animal methods, learn as well as, or better than, their peers who have used animals.”
Learning, or PSYC 3321, is an undergraduate course offered at UHCL that works similar to Learning Principles, PSYC 5235. Instead of using live rats, the undergraduate course conducts operant conditioning on a virtual rat.
Michael Hunt, comparative psychologist and adjunct instructor in psychology, teaches the PSYC 3321 course at UHCL and uses the computer software “Sniffy the Virtual Rat” in the course.
Hunt said that virtual programs are designed to mimic rat behavior and although it does help in learning the basics of behavior, he cautions that there are some issues.
“When you have a virtual rat there are some behaviors they’ve not yet been able to program into the rat, and then there are some that they intentionally don’t program in,” Hunt said. “The idea is to give real basic understanding of what goes on with that kind of process.”
In the computer software, the rat is trained to receive food pellets by pressing a lever, similar to the lab work conducted by psychologist B. F. Skinner.
“The purpose was for learning how to train a virtual operant with reinforcement and punishment through applied behavior techniques,” said Sherry Criswell, general psychology major.
Criswell, who has taken both PSYC 3321 and PSYC 5235 at UHCL, said the difference in virtual and live training is the kinesthetic learning that is received with a live animal.
“An experiment completed with a virtual rat is basically a computer game,” Criswell said. “ It did not feel real to me. The benefit is the live experience. I believe this is where the concept actually comes alive.”
Criswell went on to explain her experience in training a live rat.
“The experience was amazing and truly showed me how the effects of learning can be applied to even the simplest processes and lead to huge accomplishments,” Criswell said.
Lechago explained that there are differences in training a live rat and training a virtual rat.
“Because computer simulations do not have the behavioral variability of a living organism, they are not as effective for students learning behavioral therapy techniques,” Lechago said. “There is no substitute for seeing that a living being reacts as predicted to the appropriate arrangement of contingencies.”
Mull believes that working with live rats is beneficial, although it has its downfalls.
“The only part of the experience that was a bit upsetting to me was that upon completion of the course, the rats were either adopted by students or euthanized at the age of approximately 8 months of age,” Mull said. “I believe other avenues could be sought to allow these rats to live out their 2- to 3-year lifespan.”
All institutions that utilize animals for the purpose of research, teaching or testing are mandated by federal law to maintain an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). The committee is responsible for inspecting all areas where animals are housed and used, review and approve all projects involving animals prior to project initiation, and ensure ethical practice of euthanasia.
PETA believes that the experiments performed on live rats at UHCL are cruel. PETA representatives have also written a letter to William Staples, president of UHCL, interviewed for an article in The Houston Press, published online blogs and posted comments to the UHCL Facebook and Twitter accounts voicing their discontent with such experiments. The organization has also used social media to voice their outrage.
“We have an action alert that we have sent to our members and supporters, so they are aware of what is happening at the university, and so they can lend their voice to try to put an end to these cruel experiments,” Suiter said.
INTERACTIVE INFOGRAPHIC: Ratistics
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[…] that UHCL was not providing its lab rats with food and was starving them for experimental purposes. The student told PETA there was a rat in such distress that “she sat motionless in the corner of her chamber […]
“The concerned student witnessed her rat sitting frightened and motionless in the corner of the training chamber and that other rats cried out when handled by the students.”
I feel the same way every time I attend my literature professor’s class presentation on Jane Eyre. I sit, frightened and motionless, and occasionally cry out, especially when asked to participate in a group discussion. Can I get PETA to euthanize me? That would be awesome.
So many humane options that don’t involve breeding extra rats, putting them through the stress of classroom experiments, and then killing them. The college’s other campuses use humane methods such as visiting local shelters training and observing animals up for adoption. This is beneficial for the animals, the shelter, and the students. These cruel rat labs are outdated and need to be modernized with humane methods.
Great article! I graduated with my BS in Behavior Analysis and it would have been amazing to have the experience of using operant conditioning on a live animal instead of just watching videos on it. Based on this article, the rats are not being mistreated or ‘starved’ like PETA and the ‘whistleblower’ imply. I hope they continue using live animals for that class. Maybe even look into using pigeons also! Hands on experience is the best way to learn.