Biological Approach: Horomones & Pheromones

Question 1

What are hormones?

Answer 1

• hormones are a class of chemicals that affect behavior
• they are secreted by glands in the endocrine system
• hormones are released directly into the bloodstream; as a result, they take longer to produce changes in behavior than neurotransmitters - however, they also produce effects that last a lot longer than an action potential
• ie. epinephrine (adrenaline) is released by the adrenal gland into the bloodstream as a hormone whereas norepinephrine (noradrenaline) is released by neurons in the brain as a neurotransmitter

Question 2

What are target cells?

Answer 2

• hormones can only produce reactions in certain cells – known as target cells - that have an appropriate receptor site for the hormone
• when the hormone binds to the target cell, it either increases or decreases its function

Question 3

Cahill & McGaugh (1995) can be used for…

Answer 3

research methods, hormones in behavior, reliability of cognitive processes, how emotion affects cognition

Question 4

Cahill & McGaugh (1995) - aim

Answer 4

• to investigate the role of adrenaline and the amygdala on emotional memory

Question 5

Cahill & McGaugh (1995) - procedure

Answer 5

• participants were divided into 2 groups
• each group saw 12 slides accompanied by a different story
• 1st condition: heard a boring story about a woman and son who visited the son’s father in a hospital where they witnessed the staff in a disaster preparation drill of a simulated accident victim
• 2nd condition: heard a story about the boy having his feet severed in a car crash where he was brought to the hospital where surgeons re-attached his limbs and he stayed there with his mother for weeks and went home
• 2 weeks later the participants were asked to recall specific details through a recognition task (multi-choice)
• follow-up study: participants in the “traumatic story” condition were injected with a beta-blocker propranolol
• beta-blockers interfere with the release of adrenaline - in this study it was used to prevent activation of the amygdala to prevent the formation of emotional memory

Question 6

Cahill & McGaugh (1995) - findings

Answer 6

• original study: participants in the “traumatic story” condition had better recall of specific details
• follow-up: those who received the beta-blocker did no better than those in the “boring story” condition

Question 7

Cahill & McGaugh (1995) - conclusion

Answer 7

• concluded that adrenaline and activation of the amygdala play a significant role in memory creation linked to emotional arousal

Question 8

What are pheromones?

Answer 8

• a chemical substance produced and released into the environment by an animal affecting the behavior or physiology of others of its own species
• although pheromones play a significant role in signaling between members of the same species among animals to affect various behaviors, it is not clear that this is also true in humans

Question 9

Wedekind (1995) can be used for…

Answer 9

• pheromones & evolutionary psychology