hormones

Question 1

intro

Answer 1

hormones are chemical messengers, they differ from NT’s as they travel in the blood stream at a much slower rate.
the endocrine system includes the pituitary and thyroid gland which release hormones into the body as well as the testes and ovaries. hormones can influence our behaviour and physical changes in out body directly or indirectly such as changing your old which changes your behaviour

Question 2

point 1

Answer 2

testosterone is found in both males and females but is seen to commonly be found in higher levels in males due to them being exposed to it during the womb and puberty. men are seen to be more aggressive as they tend to commit more aggressive crimes 93% muder’s are committed by males, therefore its suggested that testosterone may have an influence on aggressive behaviour

dabs et al conducted a study in a. prison on 89 males using saliva samples and found that the males that committed aggressive crimes had higher levels of testosterone, 10/11 of males that committed violent crimes had higher levels of testosterone, those were also considered to be ‘ tough’ by other prisoners.

lacks gen- males in prison , may have something in common

Question 3

point 2

Answer 3

cortisol is a hormon produced in the adrenal glands and has an important role in the stress reaction, there are many interpretations of the role of cortisol but its suggested that feelings of stress mediate acts that people carry out therefore if we have low levels of cortisol then we may feel less stressed when carrying out acts of violence

its also suggested that cortisol inhibits testosterone in stressful times , therefore low levels of cortisol cantinhibit testosterone that might lead t agression

• bartzman conducted a study of children in a psychiatric ward, took 2 rating scales of aggression and 3 saliva tests within he first 24hours of admission

found that the sample taken 30 mins before waking up positively correlated with aggressive acts recorded by nurses, low levels- aggression and this related more to the boys that were more aggressive

correlational- circular ag=rgument, other variable sinvplved no cause and effect

Question 4

point 3

Answer 4

adrenaline produced in the adrenal gland works alongside noradrenaline - hit/ flight response - if have

excessive adrenaline can lead to impulsive and heightened reactivity to stress potentially fight/ flight at low levels of stress\

reductionist- bandora SLT

Question 5

application

Answer 5

kilnessmith- found in a study that when ppts were holdingg a gun testosterone increased and became more aggressive towards other ppts- perhaps need to consider about laws based on owning weapons as perhaps they can lead to aggressive behaviour