Animal Models for Human Behavior

Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 15 Development of Behavior .............................................................................................................. 16 Social Behavior .............................................................................................................................. 18

Communication..................................................................................................................... 18 Culture .................................................................................................................................. 18 Affiliative Behavior .............................................................................................................. 19 Sexual Behavior.................................................................................................................... 19 Play Behavior ....................................................................................................................... 19 Caregiving Behavior............................................................................................................. 20 Aggressive Behavior............................................................................................................. 20

Cognitive Behavior ........................................................................................................................ 21 Nonsocial Behavior........................................................................................................................ 23 Abnormal Behavior........................................................................................................................ 23 Lateralized Behavior ...................................................................................................................... 23 Conclusion...................................................................................................................................... 24 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... 24 References ...................................................................................................................................... 24

INTRODUCTION

This chapter will provide a very brief treatment of a very broad topic — animal models for human behavior. Although humans tend to think of themselves as unique, and a few human behaviors are difficult to model using animals, many human behaviors can be effectively studied using animal models. From learning to avoid a shock1 to learning to use a language,2 from suffering from the effects of social deprivation3 to benefiting from the effects of environmental enrichment,4

studies of animal behavior have taught us a great deal about human (and animal) behavior. Most behavioral studies of laboratory animals have as their goal the exploration, explanation, and/or prediction of human behavior. Flatworms, fruit flies, sea slugs, pigeons, parrots, mice, rats, dogs, monkeys, dolphins, and chimpanzees are all organisms whose behavior has been investigated in the laboratory in an attempt to model, to simulate, or to understand human behavior. This chapter

will focus on studies that have taken place in the laboratory setting but will also include occasional mention of work that has made use of animals in the natural setting (the “field”) as models for human behavior. Additionally, the chapter will emphasize nonhuman primate models for human behavior, as these species are perhaps the most relevant for behavioral work. However, where appropriate, studies of nonprimate models will also be discussed. The research cited in this chapter includes behavioral data collected from at least 38 different animal taxa.