Discuss the effect of pheromones on human behaviour.

Refer to the paper 1 section B assessment criteria when awarding marks. These can be found under the “Your tests” tab > supplemental materials.

The command term “discuss” requires candidates to offer a considered review of the influence of pheromones on human behaviour.

Candidates may address the effect of pheromones in relation to specific aspects of human behaviour or address behaviour in general. Both approaches are equally acceptable. Behaviours may include: attraction, judgments of attractiveness, maternal behaviour toward infants, sociosexual behaviours (kissing, dating, sexual intercourse, etc.)

Candidates may address the ambiguity of research into human pheromones and include research that shows a lack of evidence for their existence or they may argue for their existence. Both approaches are acceptable.

Relevant research may include but is not limited to:

• McClintock's (1971) study on menstrual periods of women who lived together
• Black and Biron's (1982) study on judgments of attractiveness
• Lundstrom and Olsson’s (2005) study on effects of androstadienone on women's attraction to men
• Hare et al.’s (2017) study on the ability of androstadienone and estratetraenol to signal gender and attractiveness
• Cutler's (1998) study on sexual behaviour in men
• Zhou et al.’s (2014) study on the effects of androstadienone and estratetraenol on the assignment of gender to animated figures.
• Wedekind et al. (1995) investigating mate preference based on genetic makeup in relation to immune system functioning
• Doucet's et al.’s (2009) study on maternal behaviour.
• Saxton et al.’s (2008) study on how androstadienone modulates women's attributions of men's attractiveness.

Discussion may include, but is not limited to:

• pheromone effects are dependent on social and psychological context
• pheromones appear to affect behaviour by altering psychological state, not by triggering fixed responses
• pheromones affect men and women differently
• methodological and ethical considerations, including the ambiguity of research evidence
• application of empirical findings including evidence for/against the role of vomeronasal and olfactory sense.

Animal research (eg Bind et al., 2013; Wyatt, 2003) may be used to describe the effect of pheromones but the response must then be linked to human behaviour. If there is no explicit link to human behaviour the response should be awarded up to a maximum of [3] for criterion D: critical thinking.

There were many strong responses in this question and candidates demonstrated an impressive breadth and depth of learning. The ambiguous concept of pheromones in humans was mentioned in the majority of responses and the stronger answers also discussed evidence for and/or against the role of vomeronasal and olfactory sense. Weaker responses confused pheromones with hormones and/or neurotransmitters.

Relevant psychological research was described in detail and once again there was an impressive variety of empirical evidence which either supported and/or refuted the existence of human pheromones.

Familiar problems associated with critical thinking persisted and many responses provided generic evaluation statements, demonstrating a poor grasp of this skill.