The Psychological Well Being Of Nonhuman Primates

A 1985 amendment to the Animal Welfare Act requires those who keep nonhuman primates to develop and follow appropriate plans for promoting the animals' psychological well-being. The amendment, however, provides few specifics. The Psychological Well-Being of Nonhuman Primates recommends practical approaches to meeting those requirements. It focuses on what is known about the psychological needs of primates and makes suggestions for assessing and promoting their well-being. This volume examines the elements of an effective care program--social companionship, opportunities for species-typical activity, housing and sanitation, and daily care routines--and provides a helpful checklist for designing a plan for promoting psychological well-being. The book provides a wealth of specific and useful information about the psychological attributes and needs of the most widely used and exhibited nonhuman primates. Readable and well-organized, it will be welcomed by animal care and use committees, facilities administrators, enforcement inspectors, animal advocates, researchers, veterinarians, and caretakers.

This book is an outgrowth of a conference, "The Psychological Well-being of Captive Primates," which was held in September of 1988 at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. The catalyst for the conference was the 1985 amendment to the Animal Welfare Act, which specifically required primatologists to "provide a physical environment adequate to promote the psychological well-being of primates." The purposes of the conference were to identify and define the term "psychological well-being" for nonhuman primates, to determine ways in which psychological well-being might be enhanced, to consider the economic impact of the 1985 amendment, and to evaluate the effect of such legislation on the research enterprise. Diverse viewpoints were provided by researchers, U.S. Department of Agriculture officials, veterinarians, and animal welfare groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved).

The 2e of the gold standard text in the field, Nonhuman Primates in Biomedical Research provides a comprehensive, up-to-date review of the use of nonhuman primates in biomedical research. The Diseases volume provides thorough reviews of naturally occurring diseases of nonhuman primates, with a section on biomedical models reviewing contemporary nonhuman primate models of human diseases. Each chapter contains an extensive list of bibliographic references, photographs, and graphic illustrations to provide the reader with a thorough review of the subject. Fully revised and updated, providing researchers with the most comprehensive review of the use of nonhuman primates in bioledical research Addresses commonly used nonhuman primate biomedical models, providing researchers with species-specific information Includes four color images throughout

Recently, there has been an increased interest in research on personality, temperament, and behavioral syndromes (henceforth to be referred to as personality) in nonhuman primates and other animals. This follows, in part, from a general interest in the subject matter and the realization that individual differences, once consigned to ‘error’ terms in statistical analyses, are potentially important predictors, moderators, and mediators of a wide variety of outcomes ranging from the results of experiments to health to enrichment programs. Unfortunately, while there is a burgeoning interest in the subject matter, findings have been reported in a diverse number of journals and most of the methodological and statistical approaches were developed in research on human personality. The proposed volume seeks to gather submissions from a variety of specialists in research on individual differences in primate temperament, personality, or behavioral syndromes. We anticipate that chapters will cover several areas. The first part of this edited volume will focus on methodological considerations including the advantages and disadvantages of different means of assessing these constructs in primates and introduce some statistical approaches that have typically been the domain of human personality research. Another part of this edited volume will focus on present findings including the physiological and genetic bases of personality dimensions in primates; the relationship between personality and age; how personality may moderate or impact various outcomes including behavior, health, and well-being in captive and non-captive environments. For the third part of the volume we hope to obtain summaries of the existing work of the authors on the evolutionary important of personality dimensions and guideposts for future directions in this new and exciting area of research.

The past few decades have seen a virtual explosion of scientific research in the area of cognition, emotions, suffering, and mental states in animals. Studies in the field, laboratory, and clinical medical practice have amassed an overwhelming body of evidence demonstrating that mental well-being is of paramount importance in all aspects of animal care. There is no longer any reasonable doubt among researchers that mental health is of equal importance as physical health and animal well-being. Recent research convincingly shows that physical health is strongly influenced by mental states, thereby making it clear that effective health care requires attention to the emotional well-being as well as physical. Yet, for its vast importance, mental health in veterinary medicine has to date not been compiled and structured into an organized field or body of knowledge. This information, so critical to the formal establishment of the field of mental health and well-being in animals, remains scattered throughout a wide array of scientific journals. This book represents the first authoritative reference text bringing together the most up-to-date information in the variety of subjects comprising the field of mental health and well-being in animals. Bringing together a host of distinguished experts internationally noted in the fields of animal emotion research, animal behavior, cognitive science, and neuroscience, the book represents the first authoritative reference compiling the diverse information on the animal mind and combining the revolutionary advances in the cognitive sciences with the knowledge in veterinary medicine and clinical animal behavior. This book takes a descriptive and proscriptive approach to mental health, mixing the scientific research with practical information with clinical applications for veterinary health professionals to use in practice.

The rate of neurodevelopmental disabilities, including autism, mental retardation, hearing loss and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is rising in the United States. Although estimates of the prevalence of these disorders vary, figures from the CDC indicate that 4% of all school age children are developmentally disabled. During infancy, many important milestones in behavioral development are shared between human and nonhuman primates. Learning more about the causes of abnormal development in monkeys has provided important insights into the mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disabilities in human infants. This book documents the latest research not commonly found in other references, and provides a comprehensive look at the results from decades of work with nonhuman primates as it relates to child development and disability. Includes hot topics such as early chemical exposures, immunological influences on development, low birth weight, endocrine disrupters, pediatric AIDS, origin of childhood psychopathologies and assisted reproductive technology Represents the significant body of work accumulated since funding for research on developmental disabilities has increased substantially in recent years