4.2.2 - Fight Or Flight

Question 1

What is he role of adrenaline in the body

Answer 1

enables the fight or flight responses:
- When the hypothalamus recognises a threat
- It sends a message to the adrenal glands
- Which triggers the release of adrenaline
- Prompting physical changes to the body

Question 2

What are examples of the physical changes that occur due to flight or fight response

Answer 2

• rapid heart rate and increased breathing rate: provides the energy and oxygen to the body that will be needed to fuse a rapid response to the danger
• sweating: to regulate temperature and increase blood flow to the limbs
• reduction of non essential functions: stops the digestive system, urination and salivation to avoid unnecessary energy wastage

Question 3

How to evaluate fight or flight

Answer 3

You are not evaluating the biological processes that occur ( sweating etc..) but instead the theory that these biological processes prepare us to either fight or run away.

Question 4

A03: biological functions lead to socially positive behaviour instead

Answer 4

• van dawns et al (2012)
• found that active stress can lead to greater cooperative and friendly behaviours in both men and women ( despite being stronger in women’s)
• this theory ca be used to explain the human connections that occurred during 9/11
• stress could lead to greater cooperative behaviours as humans are social animals and the protective nature if humans is what could have led us to survive
• not fighting or running away as solo individuals

Question 5

A03: individual differences affect the purpose of the fight or flight response

Answer 5

• lee and Harley (2012) found gender differences in the fight/ flight response
• the SRY gene is exclusively found in males Y gene which promotes aggression in males which could explain the fighting response to stress
• women don’t have this gene so are therefore more likely to “tend and befriend”
• this limits the explanatory power of the theory decreasing the external validity

Question 6

A03: The freeze response limits the fight or flight response theory

Answer 6

• Gray (1988)
• argues that the first reaction to threat is to avoid confrontation which isn’t fight or flee
• it suggests that prior to running away or fighting we must stop, look and listen whilst senses are heightened
• the biological changes could therefore occur to enable us to take in as much from the situation as possible which then allows us to make the correct decision on whether to fight or flight

Question 7

A03: fight or flight is no longer useful in todays society

Answer 7

• fight or flight is reactive to stressful stations to enable an energetic behavioural response
• however in todays society, stressful situations rarely require high levels of physical activity
• therefore there is a problem with this response as it is not helping survival as it isn’t needed, instead it is creating health problems
• limitation to this explanation as models stress involves relationship problems, financial problems etc.. which are not requiring of physical responses