Pheromones

Pheromones Definition

Airborne chemical messengers released by the body to have a physical or emotional effect on other members of the same species

Savic at Al

A: whether human pheromones exist and how they affect the brain

P: researchers exposed 24 men and women to the smell of two chemicals/almost identical to naturally produced sex hormones (testosterone and estrogen) / participants brains were scanned using PET machine when they smelled the chemicals

F: hypothalamus became activated in the men only when they smelled estrogen and women only when they smelled testosterone/hypothalamus is linked to sexual behavior/Savic found brains of homosexual men responded like the brains of women in a follow up study

C: sex pheromones do exist in humans and may influence sexual behavior

Evaluate Savic et al

• Controlled laboratory experiment: demonstrated casual relationship between chemical scent and activity in hypothalamus

• Small sample size

• Measured changes in brain activity, not behavior, real world application?

Zhou

A: how sex hormones can alter perception

P: 4 groups/heterosexual men, heterosexual women, homosexual men, homosexual women/viewed a walking human shape/ambiguous gender/say whether the shape was male or female/scent of either male or female pheromone was released in the air

F: participants responded to the pheromones of the gender they were attracted to when they interpreted the gender of the point light marker

C: human pheromones exist and alert people to possible mating opportunities

Evaluate Zhou

• Controlled laboratory experiment: demonstrated casual relationship between pheromones and perception of the point light marker as male or female/ecological validity (more pheromones that encountered in every day life)

• Artificial task