Hormones Flashcards
What is a hormone ?
A chemical substance in the blood that controls and regulates activity of certain cells or organelles
What is testosterone
Found more in males
Controls the development of male sex organs that begins to be produced at around 8 weeks of foetal development
What is some research for testosterone
Hoag said that girls tend to be better at social skills e.g empathising and not as good at spatial awareness
Geshwind and galaburda - suggest that differences may be caused by the effects of testosterone on the developing brain. Male brains are exposed to more testosterone prenatally and this results in a masculinated brain.
Quadagno- research for testosterone
Female monkeys that were deliberately exposed to testosterone in the womb were later found to engage in more rough and tumble play and were more aggressive this suggests that hormones play a role in gender role development
Hines- research for testosterone
Studied female babies born to mothers that were injected with male hormones during pregnancy to prevent miscarriage. They were found to be more agressive than normal female children . Hines concluded that the extra testosterone in the womb had affected later behaviour this suggests that hormones play a part in gender development
What is oestrogen ?
A group of steroid hormones which promotes the development and maintenance of female characteristics of the body and is seen to regulate menstruation.
Causes some women to experienced heightened emotion during their menstrual cycle
Role in Feminising the brain and promotes neural connections for a more distributed female brain ( equal use of both hemispheres )
Makes girls more sensitive and co operative to give them superior verbal skills
Support for oestrogen - sex changes
Men undergoing sex change operations use drugs to raise their oestrogen levels there is evidence to suggest that this improves their verbal ability on tests. They do worse of spatial ability skills after theee drugs but men usually do better on them
This suggests that hormones play a role in gender roles and development
Albretch and Pepe support for oestrogen
Increasing oestrogen levels in pregnant baboons led to raised cortisol production which helped to develop organs and tissues in foetuses and med to reduced levels of miscarriage
This suggests that oestrogen plays a key role in maintaining and promoting pregnancy
