BOHA - 9

Question 1

what are two roles of testosterone?

Answer 1

1) secondary sexual characters

2) stimulates reproductive behaviours

Question 2

in humans high levels of testosterone cause more aggression/dominance, what did a study show happened to levels of testosterone after different incidents?

Answer 2

1) levels increase in anticipation of aggression

2) levels increase after an aggressive incident

Question 3

is it though testosterone is the cause or consequence of aggression?

Answer 3

the consequence

Question 4

what study used the challenge hypothesis to test testosterone levels in birds and what were the results?

Answer 4

• test the levels of testosterone in neighbouring males when new birds move into habitats near by
• results from the study show the levels were much higher in neighbouring males than non neighbouring males due to them competing for territory

Question 5

what is the adaptive significance of aggression?

Answer 5

acquisition and defence of resources - in many social species it exhibits dominance in heirarchies

Question 6

5 examples of aggressive behaviour

Answer 6

1) male-male combat - more dominant males secure more mates
2) sexual cannibalism - the female eats the male during/ after copulation - means they lay more eggs
3) siblicide - pushing others out the nest to get more food
4) infanticide - when a new male takes over a troop he kills all the babies he can
5) child abuse - more likely in step families

Question 7

describe the two categories men can be put into describing their dominance personality

Answer 7

Type A - respond much more rapidly to change than type B - they also tend to have more mates however if they are low ranking and type A they die sooner due to heart disease from stress about wanting to be higher ranking