Download Oxytocin_12D

Oxytocin: This is a hormone that acts
as a neurotransmitter in the brain.
It plays many roles and is also greatly
stimulated during sex, birth, breast
feeding.
It is produced in the hypothalamus
secreted into the bloodstream by the
posterior pituitary gland.
Its often referred to the ‘Cuddle
Chemical or the Love Drug’
From the story below: Figure out what the effect of Oxytocin is:
Jane looked down at her new born baby. She had developed a
stronger bond with it than she had ever had with anyone. It was
quite remarkable. She expected this, but not that she’d have this
need to be with her child. She thought about the night before. She
had been given extra oxytocin to induce contractions. She had also
taken it when she’d been stressed at work and this had been able to
help her identify more criminals, (She was a security guard). She’d
felt she could remember their faces more when having the drug. Not
only that, her sex life had been given a boost! It was a dream
hormone that she relied heavily on. She’d been able to be more
sociable as well as she’d made new friends and gone out more with
colleagues It had quite a range of effects. She realised it was most
definitely the oxytocin that had such a big effect on her life.
After noting down the effects: Match them up with the cause!
Oxytocin causes contractions during the
second and third stages of labour. Oxytocin
release during breastfeeding causes mild
but often painful contractions during the
first few weeks of lactation. This also
serves to assist the uterus in clotting the
placental attachment point postpartum.
Plasma oxytocin levels are notably
increased around the time of selfstimulated orgasm and are still higher than
baseline when measured five minutes after
self arousal.[
Many oxytocin receptors are located in the
brain’s amygdala. When you see someone
frown and you understand that he or she’s
upset, that’s because the amygdala’s taken
a physical cue (the frown) and correctly
translated it into emotional meaning.
During parturition, there is an increase in
concentration of oxytocin in cerebrospinal
fluid, and oxytocin acting within the brain
plays a major role in establishing maternal
behavior.
Aim: To see the effect of Oxytocin on remembering faces
Method: Peter Klaver of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, presented 44
men with pictures of faces, sculptures, and landscapes. Beforehand, half of
the men received a nasal spritz of oxytocin, half got a placebo. The next day,
Klaver's team called the volunteers for a surprise return to the lab to view
more photos: some new, some familiar. Klaver's team asked subjects if they
remembered the photo and where they saw it, if they recognised the photo
from somewhere, or if they had never seen the photo before.
Results: People who got a nose-full of oxytocin recognised faces better than
volunteers who got the placebo, but this difference disappeared for
landscapes and sculptures
Conclusion: Oxytocin helps you remember faces better but when it comes to
landscapes and sculptures, the effect did not remain the same.
Decide which of these points support the evidence or criticise the evidence:
There is high sampling validity as 44 people
were summoned to take part in the
experiment showing that the effect wasn’t
just for 1 or 2 people. However only men
were used? Does this matter or not?
There’s low ecological validity as it wasn’t
in a field environment but a lab experiment
and this could’ve resulted in demand
characteristics as it was a relatively simple
task. Could demand characteristic occur?
They were called out for a surprise visit!
This couldn’t result in demand
characteristics as the sample wasn’t
expecting this at all?
This was only conducted in New Zealand!
This doesn’t count for all countries,
cultures, casts. Does it?
Based on these points, write an overall conclusion or discuss it with your peers
on whether the evidence is valid when supporting oxytocin’s effects or not.