Jaka Patafta 3.

IB IB Psychology

SAQ
The role of hormones
Hormones are chemicals that act as messengers in the human body by sending
signals into the bloodstream and tissues, sending signals that work slowly over
time and affect many processes in the human body, from blood sugar levels to
growth. One of those hormones is adrenaline, a hormone that triggers the body’s
fight-or-flight response. The FOF response is the bodies response to high
amounts of stress, making it decide between running from the threat or facing it
head-on. It dilates the body’s air passages and feeds the muscles more oxygen,
enabling it great strength, speed and focus for a short amount of time. But it has
also been linked to flashbulb memory creation. Flashbulb memory is a vivid,
long-lasting memory about a surprising or shocking event often connected with a
specific emotion. It is connected to the amygdala, which controls the adrenal
glands, that secrete adrenaline. The study this paper will reference is McGaugh
& Cahill (1995). In this study they tested the effect of adrenaline on memory. The
participants were put into two groups and shown two similar stories along with
the same pictures, with one being more shocking and sadder than the other. In
the first story the mother and son were going to visit their father at hospital, when
they saw a car accident drill, and the other one where the premise was same, but
instead of a drill the boy was in a car accident and his feet were severed and
they had to be reattached at hospital. After the participants rated the story on
how emotional it was 1 – 10, the second one had a much higher score. Two
weeks later they were asked multiple choice questions about the stories, where
the people who saw the more emotional story on average answered better than
the non-emotional story viewers. This shows the relationship of lasting memories
and the amygdala, but in a follow-up study, McGaugh & Cahill,1996, they
repeated the procedure, but they injected the participants with a beta-blocker
called propranolol designed to inhibit the effect of adrenaline or a placebo. After
Jaka Patafta 3. IB IB Psychology

two weeks the patients the group that was injected with propranolol did as well as
the group that was injected with a placebo but saw mundane story. This shows
the significance of adrenaline in flashbulb memory creation and retention.