Hormones & Pheromones

Question 1

What are hormones

Answer 1

Group of chemicals that influence behaviour

Question 2

Neurotransmitters vs Hormones

Answer 2

Neurotransmitters: Released by terminal buttons of a neuron

Hormones: Produced by glands in the endocrine system, directly transferred into blood stream -> take longer to affect behaviour, effects are longer lasting

Question 3

Cahill and McGaugh (1995)

Answer 3

Aim: Investigating the role of adrenaline and the amygdala on emotional memory.

Method:
- Independent measures

Procedure:
1) Participants were divided into two different groups (with different conditions)
2) Each group was shown 12 slides and was told a different story
3) 1st group : boring story about a woman and her son who visited the son’s father in a hospital where they witnessed the staff in a disaster preparation drill of a simulated accident victim.
4) 2nd group : boy was involved in a car accident, his feet were severed. He was brought to the hospital, surgeons reattached his limbs. The boy then stayed in the hospital for a few weeks before going home with his mother.
5) After viewing the slides, the participants were asked how emotional they found the story on a scale of 1 - 10.
6) Two weeks after participating in the experiment the participants came back and their memory for specific details of the story were tested. (recognition task) The scientists then conducted a follow-up investigation.
7) same technique was replicated in the next trial, subjects in the “traumatic story” condition received an injection of either the beta-blocker propranolol or a placebo (stop amygdala activity)

Results:
- original : participants who had heard the more emotionally arousing story demonstrated better recall of specific details. - They could also recall more details from the slides
- follow-up study : beta-blocker did no better than the group that had heard the “mundane” story.

Conclusion: The amygdala plays a significant role in the creation of memories linked to emotional arousal.

Question 4

Cahill and McGaugh (1995) Evaluation

Answer 4

Strengths:
- replicated easily, results are reliable
- cause and effect established
- research been applied to the treatment of accident victims to prevent ptsd

Limitation:
- very artificial and controlled -> low ecological validity.

Question 5

Newcomer et al (1999)

Answer 5

Aim: Investigate whether high levels of the stress hormone cortisol interferes with verbal declarative memory.

Participants:
- Students/Workers at Washington University Medical Center
- Had a clinical interview with a physician

Method:
- Laboratory
- Double blind

Procedure:
1) Participants were matched for age and gender to one of three conditions.
2) Condition 1 (high level of cortisol), one tablet to take each day of the experiment (four days). The dose -> blood levels similar to when a person is experiencing a major stress event.
3) Condition 2 (low level of cortisol), given a tablet as well. The dose -> undergoing minor surgical procedures.
4) Condition 3 (placebo group), participants were given placebo tablets. This was the control group.
5) Researchers asked each participant to listen to and remember a short paragraph. They received a different paragraph of equal difficulty everyday.
6) They underwent three tests. Prior to any cortisol, all individuals underwent testing. No obvious distinction between groups (crucial control -> individual variations won’t be a confounding factor )
7) After taking the drug for one day, the individuals were tested once again, and then again four days later. The individuals had another test six days later to ensure sure the therapy had no long-term impacts on them.

Results:
- Condition 1 : weakest verbal declarative memory

Conclusion:
(According to researchers) it shows a definite connection between cortisol levels and memory. It seems that the recollection of the prose section was affected by elevated cortisol levels.

*The performance of individuals in the high cortisol condition returned to normal once they stopped taking the hormone pill, allowing the researchers to confirm that the impact was temporary

Question 6

Evaluation of Newcomer et al (1999)

Answer 6

Strengths:
- Double blind : avoids researcher bias
- baseline test : eliminates possible confounding variables

Limitations:
- ran over several days P weren’t in the lab whole time -> researchers didn’t have control over extraneous variables

Question 7

What is a pheromone

Answer 7

A chemical substance produced and released into the environment by an animal affecting the behavior or physiology of others of its own species

Question 8

Types of Pheromones

Answer 8

Primer and signalling

Question 9

Primer pheromones

Answer 9

slow, long-term physiological changes, such as hormonal effects

Question 10

Signalling pheromones

Answer 10

produce rapid behavioural effects, such as mating.

Question 11

Androstadienone

Answer 11

found in male semen and sweat

Question 12

Estratetraenol

Answer 12

found in female urine

Question 13

Zhou et al (2014)

Answer 13

Aim: Investigate the influence of androstadienone (AND) and estratetraenol (EST) on human mating behaviour

Participants:
- 96 participants
- 24 heterosexual men
- 24 hetersexual women
- 24 gay men
- 24 lesbian women

Procedure
1) Participants were asked to watch stick figures on a screen and identify the gender of the figures.
2) During the task, participants were exposed to the smell of cloves, with three conditions: androstadienone mixed with cloves, estratetraenol mixed with cloves, and a control condition using only cloves.

Results:
1) Androstadienone biased heterosexual females and gay males toward perceiving walkers as more masculine.
2) Estratetraenol systematically biased heterosexual males and, to some extent, lesbian women toward perceiving walkers as more feminine.

Conclusion: pheromonesmay be linked to how males and females perceive gender according to their sexual orientation

Question 14

Zhou et al (2014) Evaluation

Answer 14

Strengths:
- Standardised procedure: reliable

Limitations
- Questionable ecological validity -> participants were exposed to high levels of pheromones (not natural)
- Not a clear study of sexual attraction
- relatively small sample size

Question 15

Doucet et al (2009)

Answer 15

Aim: Investigate the role of secretion of the areolar glands in sucking behaviour in 3-day old infants

Participants: 3-day old infants

Procedure:
1) The researchers administered various secretions (areolar glands, human milk, cow milk, formula milk, vanilla) This was done nasally
2) they measured the infants’ behaviour and breathing rate to assess their reactions to these stimuli.

Results:
1) infants initiated sucking behaviour only when exposed to the secretions of the areolar glands
2) significant increase in the infants’ breathing rate when exposed to this specific stimulus

Conclusion:
Stimulus of the areolar odour may initiate a chain of behavioural and physiological events that contribute to the progressive establishment of attachment between the mother and the infant

Question 16

Evaluation of Doucet et al (2009)

Answer 16

Strengths:
- Repeated measure : limits participant variability
- Quantifiable results (enhances objectivity and reliability)
- High ecological validity since it’s a biological process (mother and infant)

Limitations:
- small sample size
- external valditiy (same in real-world situations?)

Question 17

Problem with pheromone argument

Answer 17

• human sense of smell is very complex
• about 400 different kinds of odour receptors (with genetic variations)
• this makes it very difficult to see how pheromones work in humans
• many body odours are actually caused by bacteria that mix with out secretions (not secretions alone)
• culture plays a role in our sense of smell (potential confounding variable)

Question 18

studies for pheromones and mating behaviour

Answer 18

Doucet et al (2009) and Zhou et al (2014)

Question 19

How to demonstrate a pheromone exists

Answer 19

• repeatable experiment (bioassay)
• shows a smell molecule (odorant) causes a particular effect on the receiver.

Question 20

What is hexadecanal

Answer 20

putative (potential) pheromone linked to human aggression
- emitted from heads of babies

Question 21

Mishor et al (2021)

Answer 21

Aim: investigate the potential role of hexadecanal, a putative pheromone emitted from the heads of babies, in influencing aggressive behavior in both male and female participants.

Participants:
- volunteer sample
- 67 men and 60 women

Method:
- double-blind
- independent samples design

Procedure:
1) Participants were randomly assigned to either a hexadecanal-exposed group or a placebo-exposed group.
2) Sticky pads with the respective substance were attached to the participants’ upper lips.
3) participants engaged in computer games with a “mysterious partner,” who was actually a computer algorithm designed to provoke them.
4) In each round, participants were allocated money that they could keep if an agreement on the division was reached. However, the “mysterious partner” never agreed if the participant would receive the greater sum, leading to discrimination against the participant.
5) participants believed they were still interacting with the same partner and competed to identify a change in a target’s shape.
6) The first to react was allowed to “blast” their opponent with a loud noise, with the volume of the blast operationalizing aggression.

Results:
- Women exposed to hexadecanal were more likely to “punish” the mysterious partner with severe noise blasts than women who had the placebo.
- men who were exposed to hexadecanal opted for less intense noise blasts than those who weren’t.

Conclusion:
suggest a potential link between hexadecanal, the putative pheromone emitted from babies’ heads, and aggressive behavior

Question 22

Evaluation of Mishor et al (2021)

Answer 22

Strengths:
- double blind

Limitation:
- highly artificial