9320062 Plous Animal research has played a central role in psychology, yet its applied value and ethical propriety has recently come under attack. The purpose of the present proposal is to conduct a large-scale survey of professional and student opinion concerning the use of animals in psychological research and education. The investigation will focus mainly on the following six questions: (1) How widespread is support for animal research within the professional community? (2) How strongly do psychology students support animal research? (3) Which findings from animal research are seen as most useful? (4) What objections are most common among critics of animal experimentation? (5) Does support for animal research differ among demographic subpopulations? (6) Do students and faculty support the use of animals in education? The primary research approach will be to survey 5000 randomly selected psychologists from the American Psychological Association, as well as 2000 students drawn from a national sample of colleges and universities. Results from this survey are intended to illuminate several questions critical to the infrastructure of science and education within psychology, including questions of funding, research priorities, government and institutional regulations, ideal curricula, and differences in opinion between students and psychology faculty. Results will be reported at meetings and in appropriate professional journals. ***
