The science of animal attraction is black and white. Either there is a direct biological pathway from the stimulus to a hormone response and an associated behavior, or you can't get there using an animal model.
For the latest on this see: From pheromones to behavior. Tirindelli R, Dibattista M, Pifferi S, Menini A. Physiol Rev. 2009 Jul;89(3):921-56.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1958...d_RVDocSum
Please then consider looking for an article that details the link from any animal's visual system to sex differences in behavior. Opinions can be based on anything (or nothing). I think you'll find nothing. But you're not alone.
Many people think our behavior should be compared to birds, and think that birds are primarily visual creatures. Duh, did any of them ever study olfaction in avian species? Well, no--but they know what they've observed/seen. Birds respond to colorful plumage and different songs, so they must not be relying on olfaction; they're visual or auditory creatures. So much for bird watching; it's like biology without a microscope.
In the real world, however, if there's no animal model, you are forced to invent a stimulus response correlate--one that someone may someday detail (as in, it's possible). That's what social scientists have done with physical attraction, and the development of partner preferences. It doesn't seem to matter that there is no animal model for what we are told is visually-based human physical attraction and mate choice. Most social scientists will give you the opinion that we are primarily visual creatures without a thought for how ridiculously unfounded in biological fact their opinion is (i.e., it's for the birds).
So, people commonly misrepresent what I'm saying, and imply that I said visual input isn't important.
(08-19-2009 4:48 AM)Tisha Wrote: I think limiting attraction to one sense alone is a misconception.
Of course visual and other sensory input is important! What I've said is that olfactory/pheromonal conditioning of our response to other sensory stimuli from our social environment must come first. Animals can survive without eyes or ears, but not without the ability to respond to chemical signals in their social environment. In your case, you cannot look at a picture of food or of another person and respond appropriately (e.g., hedonically) unless you have had past experience with the underlying salient chemical cues that give people and food their value.
With regard to people thinking in black and white: have you ever heard a social scientist attempt to explain homosexual attraction? Their black/white science of attraction is typically as simple as male/female -- unless they have invented a non-biologically based model for the development of homosexual preferences.
Biology is the study of life. When you posit that some things in life don't fall in the category of science (i.e., human behavior and responses), your only way forward is speculation unsubstantiated by scientific fact--not that there's anything wrong with that. It just doesn't allow for scientific discourse.
James V. Kohl
Clinical Laboratory Scientist
(08-19-2009 4:48 AM)Tisha Wrote: I think limiting attraction to one sense alone is a misconception. But I do agree that olfactory response is part of attraction. I love science, always have, but I find many scientists think in black and white and some things in life especially when it comes to human behavior and responses don't fall in that category.
Tisha