PSY 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Lateral Hypothalamus, Twin, Peer Pressure

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 1101
• Professor: Kenneth Campbell

Document Summary

Basic (biological) motives are shared by humans and other animals. Homeostasis: maintenance of internal balance, hypothalamus involved in most (if not all) of the brain"s set points . Behaviour is due to evolutionary principles (i. e. survival of the species) Much of our behaviour has evolved from other animals. Reinforcing consequences of a behaviour determine if it is worth repeating. Brain centers for pleasure: mesolimbic dopamine system, many different stimuli will activate this system. Surveys of sexual behaviour: difficult to interpret. Samples are rarely representative of the population. Difficult to generalize to the overall population. 1950s 50% of men and 26% of women said to have had extramarital sexual intercourse. What determines sexual activity in primates and non-primates. Non-primates sex hormones: female sexual activity largely determined by hormone, oestrogen. Female is receptive (in heat) when the level of oestrogen peaks during ovulation period: male testosterone levels are more constant. Testosterone is also associated with aggression and competition among males.