Role of hormones in human behaviour Flashcards
What are hormones?
They are biochemical messengers that are transported around the body directly into the bloodstream.
Where do hormones come from?
Endocrine glands
True or False?
Each hormone only affects specific target organs or cells.
True
E.g Adrenal glands secrete Adrenaline and Noradrenaline, which affect cells in the heart.
How do hormones help us to respond to a threat?
They have a crucial role in the fight or flight response which helps to fuel the aggressive response.
What is the key role of the male sex hormone testosterone?
It has a key role in regulating social behaviour through its influence on areas of the brain implicated in aggression.
Name an animal study that shows that an increase in testosterone is related to more aggressive behaviour.
Giammanco et al (2005)
Name a human study that shows a positive correlation between high testosterone levels and aggressive behaviour.
Dolan et al (2001)
Sample of 60 male offenders in UK maximum security hospitals. These men mostly had personality disorders and histories of impulsively violent behaviour.
Which two hormones does the dual hormone hypothesis refer to?
Cortisol
Testosterone
What is one of the main roles of Cortisol?
To protect the body against the effects of stress.
What do Carre & Mehta (2011) suggest in relation to the link with Cortisol, Testosterone and aggression?
They suggest that high levels of testosterone lead to aggressive behaviour only when levels of cortisol are low.
Name another psychologist who supports the dual hormone hypothesis in humans.
Popma et al (2007)
Who found a link between aggression and hormones in females?
Dabbs and Hargrove (1997)
They measured testosterone in female inmates of a maximum security prison and found there was a positive correlation between testosterone and aggression.
What is a weakness of the explanation of testosterone and aggression.
It is difficult to determine testosterone levels as they fluctuate so much, therefore it is difficult to have a valid baseline measure.
How does the explanation of hormones and aggression have application value?
If we can understand why someone may be more aggressive then we can produce a drug to lower the testosterone levels which should in turn reduce the aggression levels.
Who did a study which showed that a drug called ‘Depo-Provera’ reduced testosterone and aggression?
Maletzky et al (2006)
