The Importance of Lab Animal Research in Psychology: Psychopharmacology

This video focuses on the importance of research with laboratory animals in the field of psychopharmacology. Psychopharmacology (or behavioral pharmacology) is the study of the effects of psychoactive drugs on behavior. By combining methods of psychology and pharmacology, psychologists have productively examined behavioral effects of the drugs in laboratory animals and people. The central theme running through this type of research is that principles of behavior can be used to understand and predict drug effects.

The video highlights three leading areas of psychopharmacological research with laboratory animals: drug abuse liability testing, drug abuse treatment and prevention, and inhalant abuse and prevention.