pheromones

Question 1

what are pheromones?

Answer 1

chemical substances produced and released into the environment that cause a
behavioral or physiological response in other members of the same species. In nature,

Question 2

what do pheromones signal?

Answer 2

pheromones are most commonly released by animals to signal to others; they are ready to
mate, or that there is danger nearby.

Question 3

what form can pheromones take?

Answer 3

sweat, urine

Question 4

what are the 2 types of pheromones in animals

Answer 4

primer and signaling pheromones

Question 5

what are primer pheromones?

Answer 5

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

Question 6

what are signaling pheromones?

Answer 6

produce rapid behavioral effects, such as mating.

Question 7

what is the brain region responsible for processing of smell in humans?

Answer 7

main olfactory bulb

Question 8

were are pheromones processed in mammals

Answer 8

vomeronasal organ (VMO)

Question 9

what are 3 studies on pheromones?

Answer 9

cutler et al (1998)
hare et al (2017)
Wedekind et al (1995)

Question 10

what are MHC genes

Answer 10

Major Histocompatibility Complex
a group of genes that play an important role in the immune system.
MHC genes are expressed co-dominantly
we inherit the MHC alleles from both of our parents
they are expressed equally.
make molecules that enable the immune system to recognize pathogens
the more diverse the MHC genes of the parents the stronger the immune system of the offspring. Evolutionary psychologists argue that our “smell” is the sign of our MHC.

Question 11

what is the aim of Wedekind?

Answer 11

The aim of the study was to determine whether one’s MHC genes would affect mate selection

Question 12

what were the results of wedekind?

Answer 12

Women scored male body odors as more pleasant when they differed from their own MHC than when they were more similar. This suggests that the MHC may influence human mate choice.

Question 13

what are three strengths of weedekind?

Answer 13

double-blind design
easily replicated
controls were set for diet , sexual activity and other variables that can affect scent

Question 14

what are two limitations of weedekind

Answer 14

reductionistic
not about pheromones , about human scent

Question 15

what is Androstadienone [AND]?

Answer 15

a derivative of testosterone and one of the chemical components of sweat. It is perceived as a human sex pheromone which signals gender and affects mate perception. Androstadienone is considered to increase sexual mood of women in the presence of a male experimenter, which suggests that this chemical may trigger attraction.

Question 16

what is the female equivalent of androstadienone?

Answer 16

estratetraenol (EST)

Question 17

what was the aim of Hare?

Answer 17

To investigate if androstadienone (AND) end estratetraenol (EST) signal gender and affect mate perception.

Question 18

what were the results of Hare?

Answer 18

no difference in gender assigned to the morphed faces in the pheromone versus control condition.
the second task revealed no difference in the average attractiveness ratings of opposite sex photographs.

Question 19

what are two strengths of Hare?

Answer 19

can be replicated, we can establish reliability
counterbalancing controls for order effects

Question 20

what are two limitations of Hare ?

Answer 20

low construct validity
low ecological validity

Question 21

what was the aim of Cutler?

Answer 21

To investigate if a synthesized human pheromone can increase sociosexual behavior of men.

Question 22

what were the 6 behaviors participants were meant to document in the behavioral calendar

Answer 22

affection or kissing

• sleeping next to a romantic partner
• sexual intercourse
• informal dates, that is dates not arranged before the day.
• formal dates, that is pre-arranged dates.
• Masturbation

Question 23

what were the result of Cutler?

Answer 23

Results showed that there were significantly more men in the pheromone group, compared to the placebo, who had an increase over the baseline in the first four behaviors: that is affection/kissing, sleeping next to a partner, sexual intercourse and informal dates. For example, 47% of men in the pheromone condition reported an increase in the frequency of sexual intercourse, as compared to 9.5% in the placebo. Differences were not observed for the last two behaviors: formal dates and masturbation.

Question 24

what are two limitations of Cutler?

Answer 24

demand characteristics
synthetic hormones cannot represent real life

Question 25

what are two strengths of Cutler?

Answer 25

double-blind design, eliminated biases
placebo, increases validity