ERQ hormones Flashcards
what studies
McGaugh and Cahill, Newcomer
what are hormones
Hormones are chemicals that affect human behavior. They are secreted by glands in the endocrine system and are released into the bloodstream, meaning they take longer to produce changes in human behavior than neurotransmitters. Hormones can only produce reactions in certain target cells, that have appropriate receptor sites for these specific hormones. The hormone adrenaline is secreted by the adrenal gland and is responsible for arousal and the “fight or flight” response, it increases the heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration. Cortisol is also secreted by the adrenal gland and is responsible for controlling blood sugar levels, and metabolic regulation; its levels rise during periods of stress.
study of newcomer
In an experiment conducted by Newcomer et al, the effect of levels of cortisol on verbal declarative memory was tested. The participants were matched to one of three conditions based on age and gender. In the first condition, the participants were given a 160 mg tablet of cortisol daily during the four-day experiment. These tablets produced a level of cortisol that one would experience during a major stress event. The second condition had the participants take a 40 mg tablet of cortisol per day. This level of cortisol replicates the levels of cortisol experienced by someone during a low-stress event. The last condition had participants take placebo tablets. The function of this was to provide a control group that eliminated the effect of taking a pill in itself. Each participant had to listen to a prose paragraph and then recall it over a period of four days. This was done to test their verbal declarative memory.
evaluation of newcomer
The participants in the high-cortisol condition performed the worst in the verbal declarative memory task. This suggests significant negative effects on verbal declarative memory. On the other hand, the low levels of cortisol condition showed better recall than the placebo group. These findings suggest that low levels of cortisol actually may enhance verbal declarative memory.
As the researchers manipulate the independent variable, a cause-and-effect relationship was established. Particularly the effect of cortisol levels on one’s verbal declarative memory. This experiment was highly standardized, therefore easily replicable. Replicability suggests the reliability of the experiment’s findings. This was a double-blind laboratory experiment. This meant that neither the experimenter nor the participant knew which group was receiving the cortisol pills or placebo pills. This eliminated demand characteristics such as the expectancy effect in which the participant acts the way they think they should act to produce data that aligns with the hypothesis. The participants weren’t aware of the dose of cortisol they were given, therefore couldn’t try to produce any desirable results.
Given that the experiment was conducted over four days, extraneous variables from the participants’ daily lives were not controlled, suggesting low internal validity. Depending on the events of the participants’ day, the levels of cortisol could have fluctuated and influenced the findings.
