role of horemones

Question 1

what is a Hormone?

Answer 1

a chemical messenger that travels through the blood stream and is produced in the endocrine systems such as the pituitary glands, ovaries, testes, pineal and thyroid.

Question 2

what are hormones responsible for?

Answer 2

mood, behaviour and development.

Question 3

how do Hormones work?

Answer 3

• By binding to receptor proteins in target cells and changing cell function
• Each cell responds in a particular way to the hormone
• Hormone secretion can be triggered by other hormones or by activity at the neuronal level
• Behaviour is affected by hormones when they are released, how they are received and how concentrated they are
• The environment can impact the release of hormones as well.

Question 4

what do hormones affect?

Answer 4

Behaviour and cause physical changes in the body

Question 5

what is an example of a hormone and how it effects the body apart from testosterone.

Answer 5

oxytocin is a hormone released by the posterior pituitary gland which has been shown to increase trust between people.

Question 6

what two hormones are implicated in aggression?

Answer 6

• cortisol (too little)

- testosterone (too much)

Question 7

what is testosterone?

Answer 7

• Testosterone is an androgen which means it is a chemical that develops and maintains males characteristics
• is a hormone which is associated with building muscles and is involved with the male reproductive tissue.

Question 8

why are testosterone levels much higher in men than women?

Answer 8

• Testosterone levels are much higher in males than females due to them being exposed to a higher concentration of testosterone in the womb.
• Antenatal exposure to testosterone had an organising effect on the brain leading to increased spatial ability and competitive aggression.

Question 9

how does Testosterone influence aggressive behaviour?

Answer 9

Testosterone influences aggressive behaviour by effecting changes in neurotransmission but this is complex. - low levels of serotonin increases aggression but increase activity of serotonergic synapses causing more serotonin will inhibit aggression.

Question 10

how is Serotonin implicated in aggression?

Answer 10

• the pre-frontal cortex of the brain is responsible for planning and reasoning but most importantly in controlling aggressive impulses.
• serotonin is a part of this mechanism and had a calming effect on the pre-frontal cortex
• therefore testosterone causing low levels of serotonin can cause aggressive and impulsive behaviour.

Question 11

what did Dabbs et al find? (1987)?

Answer 11

• measured testosterone in the saliva of 89 male prisoners, some involved in violent crimes and some not
• the level of testosterone was higher in those who had been involved in a violent crime.

Question 12

what may be reductionist about this theory?

Answer 12

by suggesting that aggression could be solely down to cortisol or testosterone is very reductionist as its explaining a complex behaviour to be down to one thing.
- it is much more likely that there are many factors involved.

Question 13

what animal study may be useful in supporting this theory?

Answer 13

castrated rodents which effectively stops the production of testosterone show little aggressive behaviour, however when this was replaced with an injection they will show typical aggressive behaviour.

Question 14

what chicken or egg argument is there?

Answer 14

maybe testosterone doesn’t cause aggression maybe aggression causes increased testosterone.

Question 15

what did Barzman et al find? (2013)?

Answer 15

• he looked at the hormones in the saliva of 7-9 year old boys in a psychiatric hospital
• they got ratings of aggression of the boys from the nurses
• they found that the amount of cortisol in the saliva correlated with the number of aggressive incidents recorded.