Submitted by Matthew Schulkind on Monday, 3/30/2009, at 1:50 PM

Researchers use animal models to study all kinds of things: memory, psychological disorders like depression and schizophrenia, and so on.  Here is my question.  Do you think it is reasonable to draw conclusions about the behavior of humans based on research with animals?  Our brains are more complex, our social interactions are also (probably) more complex.  The counter argument, as I mentioned in class is that the simpler behavior of animals might be considered the building blocks of the more complex behaviors of humans.  How valuable do you think animal research is for understanding human behavior?