Anabolic steroid abuse, the self-administration of hormones such as testosterone for body building or other nonmedical uses, is an increasing concern in society. A study of the effects of added testosterone on behavior yielded the data shown below. They are from the responses to testosterone treatment based on a scale of manic (excited or irritable) behavior for six adult males. Black bars indicate testosterone administration time and white bars indicate placebo administration time. The asterisk for the first subject indicates discontinuation of testosterone treatment after week 5 because of rapidly escalating manic symptoms.
Source: Pople, H. G., Kouri, E. M., & Hudson, J. I. (2000). Effects of supraphysiologic doses of testosterone on mood and aggression in normal men: a randomized controlled trial. Archives of general psychiatry, 57(2): 133-140.
-What could reasonably be concluded from these data?
A) All men given extra testosterone exhibit significant manic behavior.
B) Not all men respond similarly to the administration of extra testosterone.
C) People who already have high levels of testosterone have a lower response to additional testosterone.
D) Testosterone levels are higher in people who are manic

Question

Anabolic steroid abuse, the self-administration of hormones such as testosterone for body building or other nonmedical uses, is an increasing concern in society. A study of the effects of added testosterone on behavior yielded the data shown below. They are from the responses to testosterone treatment based on a scale of manic (excited or irritable) behavior for six adult males. Black bars indicate testosterone administration time and white bars indicate placebo administration time. The asterisk for the first subject indicates discontinuation of testosterone treatment after week 5 because of rapidly escalating manic symptoms.
  Source: Pople, H. G., Kouri, E. M., & Hudson, J. I. (2000). Effects of supraphysiologic doses of testosterone on mood and aggression in normal men: a randomized controlled trial. Archives of general psychiatry, 57(2): 133-140.
-What could reasonably be concluded from these data?
A) All men given extra testosterone exhibit significant manic behavior. 
B) Not all men respond similarly to the administration of extra testosterone. 
C) People who already have high levels of testosterone have a lower response to additional testosterone. 
D) Testosterone levels are higher in people who are manic

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The data shows that not all the men responded similarly to testosterone treatment, as indicated by the variability in the response to the treatment among the six adult males. One subject even discontinued the treatment after week 5 due to rapidly escalating manic symptoms. Therefore, it can be reasonably concluded that not all men exhibit significant manic behavior when given extra testosterone, and there are individual differences in response to testosterone treatment. Option A is too extreme as it assumes that all men showed significant manic behavior, which is not supported by the data. Option C is not supported by the data as the study did not investigate the response to extra testosterone in people who already have high levels of testosterone. Option D is also not supported by the data as the study did not investigate the relationship between testosterone levels and manic behavior, but instead investigated the effects of added testosterone on behavior.

Anabolic Steroid Abuse, the Self-Administration of Hormones Such as Testosterone