1. ADVANCED BIOLOGICL PSYCHOLOGY I. The Burden of being Burden-Free A. Like a psychopath? B. What psychologically stresses you? C. What personality type (or types are burden-free? D. Happy stress-free repressives II. The Trouble with Testosterone B. Correlation study D. Correlation versus causation: the case of Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher C. Subtraction –replacement experiment A. Subtraction experiment

2. Sapolsky, R.M. (1997). The trouble with testosterone. New York: Scribner. The Trouble with Testosterone 1) Subtraction experiment 2) Correlation study Conclusion: Testosterone causes aggression Wrong!

3. Sapolsky, R.M. (1997). The trouble with testosterone. New York: Scribner. The Trouble with Testosterone There are three possibilities to the correlation study: a) testosterone elevates aggression b) aggression elevates testosterone secretion c) neither causes the other Answer:

4. Sapolsky, R.M. (1997). The trouble with testosterone. New York: Scribner. The Trouble with Testosterone There are three possibilities to the correlation study: a) testosterone elevates aggression b) aggression elevates testosterone secretion c) neither causes the other Answer: B

5. Sapolsky, R.M. (1997). The trouble with testosterone. New York: Scribner. The Trouble with Testosterone 3) Do another subtraction-replacement study Exp. 1) replace 20% of the normal level of testosterone Exp. 2) replace twice the normal level of testosterone What happens:

6. Sapolsky, R.M. (1997). The trouble with testosterone. New York: Scribner. The Trouble with Testosterone Results: In both experiments there is a return of aggression to the normal level (i.e. no difference between the two experiments). Conclusion: Testosterone has a “permissive effect”

7. Sapolsky, R.M. (1997). The trouble with testosterone. New York: Scribner. The Trouble with Testosterone 4) Last experiment: House 5 monkeys together and give them plenty of time to form a dominance hierarchy (monkey number 1 being dominant). Next give monkey number 3 a ton of testosterone and measure his aggression. What happens:

8. Sapolsky, R.M. (1997). The trouble with testosterone. New York: Scribner. The Trouble with Testosterone Result: Monkey number 3 increases aggression, but only to monkeys 4 and 5. Conclusion: testosterone doesn’t increase aggression indiscriminately, it only exaggerates the aggression that’s already there.

9. Neural Substrates of Aggression Amygdala Hypothalamus Stria terminalis

10. Neural Substrates of Aggression Amygdala Hypothalamus Stria terminalis not activated Flooding the area with testosterone has no effect

11. Neural Substrates of Aggression Amygdala Hypothalamus Stria terminalis activated Testosterone increases the rate of signaling

12. Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (1890-1962)

13. 1) Integrated Mendelian genetics with Darwinian natural selection. 2) Invented a technique called the analysis of variance. Fisher’s two major accomplishments: It has been said that he was the “Babe Ruth of evolutionary theory and statistics” Gould, S.J. (1991). The smoking gun of eugenics. Natural History, 100, 8-17.

14. However, Even the Babe struck out