ABSTRACT
Results of studies employing animals in sensory research over the last 50 years have shown the above statement to be categorically wrong. In fairness, Bernard was partially right in that animals cannot directly convey their sensory experiences. However, he erred when he assumed that the only valid method for investigating sensory experience was by verbal report. His summary dismissal of animal testing can be better understood when it is realized that the field of animal experimental psychology, pioneered by Thorndike (1911) and Watson (1914), had not yet been developed. This chapter will show that, contrary to Bernard’s supposition, behavioral testing of animals can provide much important information about sensory systems, including olfaction, when the appropriate methodology is employed. Moreover, animal testing is the only way in which both behavioral testing and experimental physiological procedures, e.g., lesions, histological examination, genetic manipulation, etc., can be undertaken in the same organism.
