Most sciences seek generality of experimental results and theory. However, the phenomena of life are highly variable, and life scientists must ask whether experimental results obtained under controlled conditions are broadly applicable to other, more complex contexts. The specific test animal used in biological experiments may greatly influence the generality of laboratory results. This research will examine the history of the development of experimental animal models in research in physiology and psychology in Germany and America between 1880-1900. The investigator will focus on historical changes in the assumptions of generality associated with the early use of test animals in these fields to show that, though scientists at this time sought generality, they also placed great emphasis on species differences that could limit generality. By 1930, however, the life sciences had seen a proliferation of a few common animal models. After widely used animal models were selectively bred for research, assumptions about species differences changed. The early emphasis on diversity and on circumstances that might render results obtained on one species inapplicable to another was lost. Rather, later many scientists simply assumed generality. That is, even before taking measurements, they often presumed that test animals were models that embodied commonalties shared by many different species. In the life sciences, the unprecedented growth of the experimental method has led to the intensive investigation of a very few species under highly controlled artificial circumstances. With the widespread use of a few test animals, fewer scientists explicitly address the problem of generality. Yet, questions about the limits of generality are among the most troubling issues facing contemporary laboratory science. Research on the history of changes in the use of animal models highlights the role of test animals in framing assumptions about generality and diversity. These assumptions are particularly important in applied research, where the significance of findings for human health and adjustment depends directly on the utility of results obtained from animals. This research examines historically whether assumptions about generality have become uncritically embedded in the use of test animals and assess events that may have led to these circumstances. The work, there, addresses a fundamental problem in the life sciences: achieving the greatest scientific generality possible, given the manifest diversity of life. The investigator has conducted scientific research on the reproductive and territorial functions of vocal signals in wild songbirds for twenty years. While that program has been a successful one, changes in science and in the structure of her university have made it difficult to maintain. Therefore, she is changing her career emphasis, shifting her central focus away from scientific research on animal communication to instead stress interrelations between the histories of experimental psychology and experimental physiology. This award will enable her to draw on her scientific background in zoology, physiology, and psychology to contribute to an understanding of fundamental issues in American science. In addition, because the project links German physiology to the changes in the animal model tradition in America, it meets the POWRE program's goal of forging international links between science in the United States and other countries.
