Science project (high school)

[jvkohl]

It's good

to see that the concept of human pheromones is recognized before some college professor tells students there's no

such

thing.
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http://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/<...villages02.txt

In her study, Borrowman asked seven men to identify their

wives by scent, and none were able to identify the correct T-shirt. However, five of the seven women tested

correctly identified the T-shirts worn by their husbands.

Borrowman hopes her winning project will give more

credibility to biopsychology as a respected

science.
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JVK

[Friendly1]

Why do you think the men were

unable, in even one case, to successfully identify their spouse's t-shirt?

[jvkohl]

Why do you think

the men were unable, in even one case, to successfully identify their spouse's t-shirt?

Men do not

need to selectively respond to ensure reproductive success.

JVK

[Friendly1]

Men do not need

to selectively respond to ensure reproductive success.



JVK

Okay, that makes sense. The woman

needs to make sure she keeps the father of her children around for at least a while. So she needs to feel a

connection with him.

So the role of the feminine pheromone would not be exactly like the role of the male

pheromone, correct? At least the pheromones relating to male-female interaction.

A man would respond more to a

woman's pheromone signature if she were fertile, less if she were not.

A man would respond more to a woman's

pheromone signature if her immune system were different from his.

A man would respond more to a woman's

pheromone signature if she were not pregnant, less if she were.

Are these testable concepts? Have they been

tested?

I can see that women who use pheromone products would want to seem fertile, unpregnant, healthy, and

immunally distinct from as many men as possible.

[Gegogi]

I can see that women who

use pheromone products would want to seem fertile, unpregnant, healthy, and immunally distinct from as many men as

possible.

This is a bit off track, but what the hay. Lots of men are sexually attracted to pregnant

women. I also know guys that prefer menstruating women (lots of Japanese men), not only for intercourse, but for

oral sex as well (lots of women love it too). Personally I don't get the thrill but it's pretty common.

[jvkohl]

Are these

testable concepts? Have they been tested?

I can see that women who use pheromone products would want to

seem fertile, unpregnant, healthy, and immunally distinct from as many men as possible.

The concepts

have been tested in non-human animals and incorporated into the overall concept of human pheromones. Data from human

studies support the extension. However, distinct differences in the immune system are not as likely to be important

to males as to females. Simply put, if she smells like a fertile female, that's enough to evoke a hormone response

that helps to focus his attention on sex. On the other hand, simply smelling like a reproductively fit male doesn't

always do it for a female. They unconsciously "know" that without sufficient immunological differences, sex is less

likely to result in reproduction, or that the reproductive result will be less beneficial to

offspring.

JVK

[marcuccio88]

hello

all,
I have always heard that women have a better sense of smell. I know that my sense of smell is "dead." My

ex-wife had a blood hound's nose, despite the fact that she suffered from allergies and was often congested.
I

have read that both the male and femal parent respond to the smell of their own offspring. I remember reading in a

baby book on how both parents enjoy smelling the baby's head, and I remember smelling my daughter's head when she

was a baby (maybe at the suggestion of the book - maybe to fulfill some biological need)
I have also heard that

women's sense of smell needs to be more acute to detect illness, ear infections for example.
Just some anecdotal

information to support the biological difference between male and female sense of smell...
peace to all!!