Hormonal mechanisms

Question 1

What hormone is involved in agressive behaviour

Answer 1

• testosterone- it is responsible for the development of masculine features and is associated with agression
• men with high levels of testosterone are not necessarily highly agressive- behaviour may manifest itself in athletic prowess or competitiveness

Question 2

Research- Dolan et al (2001)

Answer 2

• found a positive correlation between testosterone levels and agressive behaviours
• sample of 60 male offenders un UK maximum securit prisons
• these men mostly suffered from personality disorders and had histories of impulsively violent behaviour

Question 3

Resarch- VanGoozen and Colleagues (1995, 1997)

Answer 3

• studies people undergoing sex change operations
• in natural experiment, women changing to men recieved testosterone injections and became more agressive
• men changing to women received testosterone supressants and became less agressive
• shows lowering testosterone levels reduces agressiveness, while raising it increases agression

Question 4

Research- Connor and Levine (1969)

Answer 4

• found that rats castrated when they were young had lower levels of testosterone and lower levels of aggression when adult, and remained passive when injected with testosterone
• Rats castrated after puberty became passive, but if injected with testosterone displayed pre-castration levels of aggression

Question 5

Testosterone and the OFC- how do these two work tgether

Answer 5

• testpsterone levels affect actvity in OFC
• if an individual has high levels of testosterone, activity in the OFC is reduced. This could mean that in an emotional situation, there could be a heightnened emotionally agressive response
• this suggests that biological explanations do not necessarily work in isolation to one another- homrones can have an impact on the functioning of brain structures

Question 6

Reserach- Carre and Lehta (2011)

Answer 6

• proposed dual hormone hypothesis
• claim high levels of testosterone lead to agressive behaviour but only when levels of cortisol are low
• when cortisol levels are high, testosterone’s influence on agression is blocked

Question 7

Is testosterone the only factor in agressive behaviour

Answer 7

• no
• testosterone can affect how an individual feels but they will not necssarily act on it. Testosterone levels may underpin the emotional response to a situation but that other factors will affect whether the agression felt influences the actual behaviour of the individual

Question 8

Evaluation- not just testosterone

Answer 8

• complex interaction between many things
• testosterone influences serotonin levels in the brain
• testosterone and agression are linked with low levels or cortisol
• the research is just correlational

Question 9

Evaluation- biological determinism

Answer 9

• hormonal explanation is biologial determinism
• explanis behaviour due to hormones
• no free will

Question 10

Evaluation- research on animals

Answer 10

Comparative – much of the work on genes has been done on animals and may not apply to humans so easily. However, the experiments which have been done on mice relate to chemicals and genes which are very similar