4: Natural Odours are irresistible... aren't they?

Question 1

What did researchers find about wild female boars when they smelt the urine of male boars?

Answer 1

= immediate mating position = irresistible smell OOOoooo

suggesting the power of smell

Question 2

What is the Vomeronasal organ?

Answer 2

• found on top of mouth
• small organ
• linked to hypothalamus
• has influence in choosing partner

Question 3

What type of pheromones released from the armpit is what women find appealing?

Answer 3

• derivative of testosterone

= Androstenol

Question 4

What effects have been derived from research into rats and their pheromones?

Answer 4

1. Lee-Boot effect
2. Bruce effect
3. Vandenburgh effect
4. Whitten effect

Question 5

What is the Lee-boot effect?

Answer 5

• synchronisation of female rats’s

McClintock Shared accommodation = female synchronisation

Question 6

What is the Bruce effect?

Answer 6

• female rats more likely to miscarry + be mating with new male rat introduced afterwards

Question 7

What is the Vandenburgh effect?

Answer 7

when a new male rat is introduced, the pre-pubescent females rats hit puberty sooner

Ellis + Garber Stepfather prevent vs single mother = faster puberty for females

Question 8

What is the Whitten effect?

Answer 8

shorter time of recovery after pregnancy for female rats when a new male rat is introduces = ready to reproduce faster

Cutler Sweat of other women put on upper lip = shorter cycles = fertile for longer + quicker

Question 9

What did Kirk-Smith et al find in their surgical mask study?

Answer 9

1. Mask with Androstenol vs neutral
2. Shown pictures of animals, buildings + people
   - androstenol group = rate things more positively
   - worked especially for females
   = being nicer

Question 10

What did Cowley + Brooksbank’s necklace study find?

Answer 10

1. Asked females to weak necklace
2. Androstenol vs neutral
   - androstenol group = greater interaction with males the next day

Question 11

What did Cutler et al 1998 find when male pheromone was added to aftershave on sociosexual behaviour in men?

Answer 11

• increase in sociosexual behaviour vs control
• kissing, huggin, sex etc
• 2+ OR 3+

Question 12

What did McCoy et al 2002 find when female pheromone were added to perfumes on sociosexual behavioru in women?

Answer 12

• increase in sociosexual behaviour vs control

Question 13

What did Kirk-Smith et al find about waiting rooms and pheromones?

Answer 13

1. Chairs with added pheromone vs control

- women drawn to sit in the pheromone chair

Question 14

What did Robin Tan + Mark Goldman 2015 find about how pheromones can affect alcohol consumption and anxiety levels?

Answer 14

1. Made them smell a sweaty female t-shirt
   - drank more alcohol (but was actually FAKE!)
   - which meant it also helped with anxiety levels
   - sat closer to the chair with the cardigan

Question 15

What did Gistavsen et al find about how pheromones can affect which toilet cubicle you use?

Answer 15

1. Sprayed Androstenol in some toilet
   = males avoided that cubicle
   = females drawn towards it

Question 16

What are some problems with research into pheromones and how they influence our decisions?

Answer 16

1. no control for attractiveness
   - were the pheromone groups more attractive?
2. Self-report data
   - subjective bias
3. Groups differed widely in relationship status
   - married vs not married - affecting level of sociosexual behaviours

Question 17

What is MHC?

Answer 17

Major Histocompatibility complex

- a section in our chromosome responsible for our immune response

Question 18

What is the role of MHC in the ‘good gene’ theory of sexual selection?

Answer 18

• we are drawn towards people with different MHC

- given survival advantage as they would have a range of immune response vs same

Question 19

What did Wedekind et al’s 1995 study on smelly t-shirt and MHC find?

Answer 19

1. Found each ppt MHC
2. Predicted which smelly t-shirt they would like (based on MHC)
   - women (who weren’t on contraceptive pills) = liked t-shirts with opposite MHC

Question 20

What is an explanation for why women in Wedekind et al’s study of smelly t-shirts liked shirt’s with similar MHC?

Answer 20

• contraceptive pills = mimic pregnancy

- body now looking for people similar to them to help them

Question 21

What seems to be the best characteristics for attracting the best MHC partner?

Answer 21

Thornhill + Gangstad 1999

1. Symmetry in the face or body
   - as it means lots of testosterones
2. Oposite MHC smell

Question 22

What do we tend to do when we go shopping for perfumes/ aftershaves?

Answer 22

1. gear towards perfumes which are similar to our MHC - enhance it
2. When buying for others just looking for opposite MHC, so not so good at buying perfume for others

Question 23

What did Black + Biron’s study find, challenging the role of pheromones?

Answer 23

1. 3 groups: Androstenol, Exaltolide, no odour
2. Brief interaction to prevent influence from personality traits
   - no significant preferences/ attraction reported

Question 24

What factors should you consider when attempting to form a relationship between pheromones and attraction?

Answer 24

1. Grammer, 1993
   - olfactory sensitivity moderated by menstrual cycle - peak during ovulation
2. Christiansen 1998
   - stress can suppress pheromones
3. Black + Biron, 1982
   - weak smell of not long enough exposure (alt explanation for their findings?)
4. Grammer et al, 2005
   - few double blind controlled experiments
5. Pause, 2004
   - context important: Pheromones could communicate danger? other meanings?