Hormonal Mechanisms

Hormonal Mechanisms

1. More males / females - due to testosterone

2. Test/ - class of hormones - androgens. Produced by Leydig cells in male testes + ovaries

3. Development of male reproductive system (testis, secondary sexual characteristics i.e. inc/ muscle + bone mass)

4. Pre-natal brain development-parts of brain ass/ w/ agg/ (limbic system).

5. Just after birth - sensitising neural circuit ass/ agg/

6. Acts on synapses in serotonin system, lowering amount. Low levels = heightened agg/. Test/ - exert inf/ on agg/ through its effect on serotonin levels

7. Human + non/human agg/ - peak at start of puberty boys + corresponding peak of agg/ beh/

8. Wagner et al (1979) - Mice - castration (prevents test/) - decrease agg/. Given test/ - agg/ levels restored pre-castration. SUBTRACTION REPLACEMENT PARADIGM

9. Edwards (1968) - new born female mice - injections test/ = agg/ like males. Adult = not react same. Test/ acts shortly after birth to masculinise neural circuits underlying agg/ in brain

10. Kreuz + Rose (1972) - higher test/ - criminals violent beh/ than those without violence.

11. Correlational - high test/ cause agg/? Agg/ causes...

12. BASAL MODEL OF TEST/: test/ causes agg/ beh/

13. RECIPROCAL MODEL OF TEST/: agg/ beh/ leades to inc/ test/

    • Klinesmith et al (2006) - male ppts - assemble gun/mousetrap game. Test/ levels-salivia. Ins/ sig/ w/ gun. Agg/ stimuli=inc/ test/
    • Hormone = affected by envir/ factors. Sporting contest (football)=inc/ test/ in winning team. Biology inf/ by environment. INTERACTIVE APPROACH

14. Any single hormone - overly simplistic. Agg/ - complex beh/ regulated by range of hormones. Haller + Kruk (2003) - link-high stress hormones (e.g..) + agg/

15. IDA - GENDER ISSUE - Most studies - male. Floody (1968) - meta-analysis - week preceding menstruation, androgens (test/) inc/ = correlates w/ inc/ hostility + likelihood committing agg/ crime

16. IDA - ANIMAL RESEARCH - Care when generalising. More complex + affectes by social, cognitive + emotional factors.

    • Human/non-humans similar in hormonal makeup - generalise w/ confidence. High test/ ass/ w/ agg/ in no. of species = confident.

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