Читать книгу Methods in Psychological Research - Annabel Ness Evans - Страница 24

Description of its subject matter is the first objective of a science. The subject matter of psychology is human behavior and mental processes. Describing general laws of human behavior is the work of many researchers in psychology today. Sometimes animal models are used to study human behavior. For example, Frank Epling (deceased) and David Pierce of the University of Alberta have spent several years studying anorexia nervosa in laboratory rats. They have described the phenomenon quite clearly. Rats will develop anorexia if they are given access to a running wheel and if they are given an adequate amount of food for a specific period of time each day. The rats will, over time, spend excessive amounts of time running and will eat less and less, even when adequate food is available, but only when that food is offered for a limited time each day. Are rats the same as humans? Of course not, but this kind of research may offer some insights into similar processes in humans.