Guns, Testosterone, and Aggression Article Review
Guns, Testosterone, and Aggression Article Review Echo Royal Psych 210 D1
The focus of this particular research paper was to prove or disprove the theory that testosterone levels would rise based on the presence of a toy gun. The independent variable consisted of a pellet gun identical to a Desert Eagle handgun for the experimental subjects and the Mouse Trap children’s game for the control subjects. The dependent variable was the amount of hot sauce each test subject placed into individual cups for the next test subjects. The population studied for this research were 30 male college students willing to provide saliva samples. The procedures that were followed were simplistic. Each of the men provided a saliva sample for a baseline testosterone level. They were then put into a room with a TV, a table with a piece of paper and either the gun or game. They were instructed to draw the object and write a set of instructions to assemble and dissemble it. After 15 minutes, the experimenter obtained a second saliva sample and measured the testosterone level. The subjects were then instructed to taste a cup of water that had hot sauce in it that was prepared by a previous subject and rate the taste. The subjects were then bought a cup of water and asked to put as much hot sauce in it as the wanted to for the next set of test subjects. The results were that the men that interacted with the gun showed a greater increase in testosterone and they added more hot sauce to the water than those with the toy.
Based on this particular research, it too appears that aggression and testosterone are increased just by interacting with something that represents violence. Psychologists could use this research to help troubled kids and adults get to the root of some of their issues of aggressive behavior or anger issues and be able to start dealing with it constructively.
This study is not relevant to an entire population because it only tests
The focus of this particular research paper was to prove or disprove the theory that testosterone levels would rise based on the presence of a toy gun. The independent variable consisted of a pellet gun identical to a Desert Eagle handgun for the experimental subjects and the Mouse Trap children’s game for the control subjects. The dependent variable was the amount of hot sauce each test subject placed into individual cups for the next test subjects. The population studied for this research were 30 male college students willing to provide saliva samples. The procedures that were followed were simplistic. Each of the men provided a saliva sample for a baseline testosterone level. They were then put into a room with a TV, a table with a piece of paper and either the gun or game. They were instructed to draw the object and write a set of instructions to assemble and dissemble it. After 15 minutes, the experimenter obtained a second saliva sample and measured the testosterone level. The subjects were then instructed to taste a cup of water that had hot sauce in it that was prepared by a previous subject and rate the taste. The subjects were then bought a cup of water and asked to put as much hot sauce in it as the wanted to for the next set of test subjects. The results were that the men that interacted with the gun showed a greater increase in testosterone and they added more hot sauce to the water than those with the toy.
Based on this particular research, it too appears that aggression and testosterone are increased just by interacting with something that represents violence. Psychologists could use this research to help troubled kids and adults get to the root of some of their issues of aggressive behavior or anger issues and be able to start dealing with it constructively.
This study is not relevant to an entire population because it only tests