PSYCH 101 lecture 22

myth (5)

- ~80% of people are familiar with the Mozart Effect - ~70% of people believe that "listening to Mozart will enhance your intelligence" -Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida have passed legislation to allow for free access to Mozart Effects products or to have it played in state funded day care centres -a New York community college set up a "Mozart Effect study room" on campus -a head coach of the New York Jets played Mozart during football practice

embryo quality hypothesis (8)

-"MOST FIRST-TRIMESTER SPONTANEOUS ABORTIONS... ARE UNRELATED TO DIET, BUT RATHER STEM FROM INTRINSIC GENTEIC CAUSES. an absence of NVP during the first trimester does not cause low-quality embryos ti be destined to be aborted, as advocates of embryo protection have suggested. Rather, low-quality embryos cause spontaneous abortion (due to low production of hCG). ADVOCATES OF THE EMBRYO PROTECTION HYPOTHESIS HAVE REVERSED THE DIRECTION OF CAUSALITY. The inverse correlation between NVP and early pregnancy loss is explained more parsimoniously as singling embryo quality."

myth (4)

-BASED ENTIRELY ON SPECULATION that the original 1993 findings might apply to infants, Mozart Effects products were developed and marketed

myth (7)

-IS THE MOZART EFFECT REAL? 1: replication studies using adults have shown that the effect is: -very small to non-existent -very short lived (1 hour or less) 2: replications studies using children and infants have overwhelmingly shown that the effect is -virtually non-existent -a few studies showing a very small effect

evolutionary hypotheses

-PS is an example of where evolutionary theory has generated new hypotheses that can be tested -in the case of PS, 2 competing hypotheses have been developed that make different predictions that can be tested -the competing theories account for PS in very different ways and make very different conclusions

is pregnancy sickness an adaptation?

-PS is commonly viewed as some type of "illness" that should be remedied -there are 2 alternative evolutionary hypothesis reading PS: 1: THE EMBRYO PROTECTIO HYPOTHESIS -PS is an adaptation (nausea, vomiting and food aversions) 2: THE EMBRYO QUALITY HYPOTHESES -nausea and vomiting are NOT adaptations, they are by-products -food aversions is an adaptation

embryo quality hypothesis (7)

-WHAT CAUSES LOW LEVELS OF hCG TO BE PRODUCED? -EMBRYOS WITH CHROMOSOMAL ABNORMALITIES -in other words, the GENETIC QUALITY of the embryo is associated with how much hCG is produced

embryo quality hypothesis (6)

-WHAT HAPPENS IF NOT ENOUGH hCG IS PRODUCED? 1: if low levels of hCG are produced by the embryo in early pregnancy... -low levels of hCG are associated with a lack of nausea and vomiting 2: corpus luteum function is not properly regulated, and the corpus luteum regresses 3: corpus luteum function fails to maintain proper levels of progesterone 4: progesterone fails to maintain pregnancy -spontaneous abortion more likely to occur

myth (6)

-WHY THIS WIDESPREAD BELIEF IN THE MOZART EFFECT? -word of mouth -media distortion of findings -"numerous studies on the Mozart effect and how it helps elementary school students, high school students, and even infants increase their mental performance" -no published research (up to 2005) on the Mozart Effect for any of these groups

humans are omnivores

-animals that eat both plants and animals

pregnancy sickness (PS)

-defined as including, in the 1st 3 months of pregnancy -presence of nausea, and/or -presence of vomiting, and/or -presence of food aversions -if all three are included as possible symptoms of pregnancy sickness, then virtually all women "suffer" from it

embryo quality hypothesis (1)

-here, very roughly, is how it works: PART 1 1: luteinizing hormone (LH) is produced by the mother during pregnancy -higher levels of LH are associated with nausea and vomiting 2: LH regulates corpus luteum function -keeps the corpus luteum from regressing 3: corpus luteum function maintains proper levels of progesterone 4: progesterone maintains pregnancy -avoids spontaneous abortions

myth (2)

-in 1993, research showed that listening to Mozart's music helped immediate performance on a spatial reasoning task -IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS: -participants were undergraduate students -task involved paper cutting and folding -no implication about long-term benefits for intelligence -no implication about benefits generalizing to infants

myth (8)

-later studies clarified what is likely causing the Mozart Effect whenever it is present -MOZART'S MUSIC ENHANVES EMOTIONAL AROUSAL -other stimuli also enhances emotion arousal and improves student performance -listening to a passage from a scary story by STEPHEN KING

embryo protection hypothesis (1)

-many plants have evolved toxins and spoiled meat is a breading ground for certain pathogens -toxins of interest are called TERATOGENS (are especially dangerous to developing fetuses in the first 3 months of pregnancy) -the idea is that PS IS AN ADAPTATION TO PREVENT MOTHERS FROM CONSUMING FOOD PRODUCTS HIGH IN TERATOGENS AND PARASITES -leads to: nausea, vomiting, food aversions

2 adaptive problems for omnivores

-omnipresent and solutions affected reproduction 1:many PLANT species have evolved toxins as a means of deterring animals from eating them 2: MEAT can spoil rather easily -toxins and parasites that feed on spoiled meat can be dangerous and even fatal to omnivores

myth (3)

-regardless of the considerations listed on the previous slide, this finding became known as THE MOZART EFFECT -referred to the supposed enhancement in intelligence after listening to classical music -lead to the question of whether parents can give their children a ump-start by stimulating them intellectually during infancy -PLAYING MOZART'S MUSIC TO INFANCTS BOOSTS THEIR INTELLIGENCE

embryo quality hypothesis (9)

CONCLUSIONS 1: embryo hCG production is an adaptation -helps maintain pregnancy (from embryo point of view) 2: nausea and vomiting are by-products, NOT adaptations -"carried along" with high levels of hCG 3: food aversions is an adaptation -helps maintain pregnancy (from mother point of view) -completely separate adaptation than #1

myth (10)

CONCLUSIONS: -"parents hoping to transform their babies into geniuses by exposing them to the soundtrack of Amadeus are best advised to save their money" -one of the best ways to allow infants to go intellectually is to allow and encourage them to do what comes naturally-that is, to actively explores their environments

myth (9)

CONCLUSIONS: -Mozart Effect likely due to short-term emotional arousal -anything that heightens alertness is likely to increase performance on mentally demanding tasks -but unlikely to produce long-term effects on spatial reasoning or general intelligence

embryo quality hypothesis (2)

PART 2 -there is GENETIC CONFLICT between the mother and the embryo -the mother will (unconsciously) maintain the pregnancy if the benefits outweigh the costs -BENEFITS > COSTS if the embryo is not healthy and this likely to survive and potentially reproduce -BENEFITS < COSTS if the embryo is not healthy and thus not likely to survive and potentially reproduce -pregnancy requires lots of resources that should be spent only on healthy embryos

embryo quality hypothesis (4)

PART 2 continued -if the embryo is healthy, then the mother maintains high levels of the LH hormone -if the embryo is not healthy, then the mother maintains low levels of the LH hormone -spontaneous abortion more likely -B/C THE EMBRYO HAS A MAJOR VESTED INTEREST IN MAINTAINGING THE PREGANNCY, EMBRYOS HAVE EVOLVED AN ADAPTATION TO MANIPULATE THE MOTHER'S ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

embryo quality hypothesis (3)

PART 2 continued -there is GENETIC CONFLICT between the mother and the embryo -the embryo has a vested interest to maintaining the pregnancy (life or death situation) -the mother has a vested interest to maintain the pregnancy only if they embryo is healthy -this is b/c pregnancy requires precious resources that could be used on other pregnancies

embryo quality hypothesis (5)

PART 3 1: human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) IS PRODUCED BY THE EMBRYO in early pregnancy -hCG IS CLOSELY RELATED TO LH AND MIMICS ITS EFFECTS -high levels of hCG are associated with nausea and vomiting 2: hCG also regulates corpus luteum function -keeps the corpus luteum from regressing 3: corpus luteum function maintains progesterone 4: progesterone maintains pregnancy

embryo protection hypothesis (2)

evidence 1a: pregnant women are more likely to avoid foods high in teratogens than foods low in teratogens -veggies like cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts (smells and tastes are cues) -coffee, alcohol 1b: or foods that spoil easily from parasites (fungal or bacterial) -meat and eggs (smells and tastes are cues)

embryo protection hypothesis (4)

evidence 3: success of PS in helping the mother carry the fetus to full term -women who do not have PS are 3X MORE LIKELY to spontaneously abort the fetus

embryo protection hypothesis (5)

evidence 4: cross-cultural data -of 27 traditional societies, PS observed in 20 and not observed in 7 -the 20 societies in which PS was observed were far more likely to use meat and other animal products -food more likely to carry pathogens that could hurt the fetus

embryo protection hypothesis (6)

evidence 4: cross-cultural data -the apparent inconsistency of the cross-cultural data could be accounted for by the concept of NORM OF REACTION -THE SPECIFIC MANIFESTATIONS OF AN ADAPTATION DEPENDS ON ENVIRONMENTAL INPUT -the presence or absence of PS may depend on what types of food are eaten

embryo protection hypothesis (3)

evidence 2a: PS occurs at the time of pregnancy when the fetus is MOST vulnerable to toxins -when many major organs are forming 2b: PS starts to abate at 8 weeks and is generally over by 14 weeks -this coincides with the end of the sensitive period for organ development

myth (1)

playing Mozart's music to infants boosts their intelligence