L5 - The Flight Or Fight Response To Stress

Question 1

What is the fight or flight response?

Answer 1

• response evolved as a survival mechanism allowing humans & animals to act quickly in life threatening situations
• body changes associated with fight or flight allow an individual to fight off the threat or to fold to safety

Question 2

What happens to the brain when a person is faced with a threat?

Answer 2

• an area in the brain called the amygdala is activated, it associates sensory signals (e.g. see, hear, smell, feel etc) with emotions associated with fight or flight, such as fear and anger.
• The amygdala then sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus, which functions like the command centre in the brain which communicates with the rest of the body through the sympathetic nervous system
• The body’s response to stressors involves 1) acute (sudden) stressors and 2) chronic (ongoing) stressors.

Question 3

Response to acute sudden stressors - SNS

Answer 3

• when SNS is triggered, it begins the process of preparing the body for the rapid action necessary for the fight and flight.
• The SNS thus sends a signal through to the adrenal medulla, which responds by releasing a hormone called adrenaline into the bloodstream
  As adrenaline circulates through the body, it causes a number of physiological (bodily) changes

Question 4

Physiological changes due to adrenaline

Answer 4

• heart beats faster, pushing blood to the muscles, heart and other vital organs, and blood pressure increases
• Breathing becomes faster so that you can take in as much oxygen as possible with each breath
• Blood sugar is released as well as fats, which flood into the bloodstream, supplying energy to parts of the body associated with the fight-or flight response
• pupil dilation - increase light entry into eye & enhance vision
• sweat production - regulates temperature
• reduction of non-essential functions (digestive system/salivstion) - saves energy for other essential functions

Question 5

Response to acute sudden stressors - PNS

Answer 5

When the threat has passed, the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) dampens down the stress response. The PNS slows down the heartbeat again and reduces blood pressure. Also digestion begins again.

Question 6

Evaluation of fight/flight

Answer 6

strengths
- makes sense from evolutionary point
weaknesses
- not limited to fight/flight
- typically male response
- rarely needed in modern day

Question 7

Makes sense from evolutionary viewpoint

Answer 7

• The fight or flight response makes sense from an evolutionary psychology point of view because it would have helped an individual to survive by fighting or fleeing a threat
• Also the threats in previous times would have been much more significant such as being confronted by a big bear and then experiencing fight and flight
• So this is a very valid explanation

Question 8

Not limited to fight/flight

Answer 8

• When faced with a dangerous situation our reaction is not limited to the fight or flight response; some psychologists suggest that humans engage in an initial ‘freeze’ response
• Gray (1988) suggests that the first response to danger is to avoid confrontation altogether, which is demonstrated by a freeze response
• During this animals and humans are hyper-vigilant, while they appraise the situation to decide the best course of action for that particular threat.
• This is therefore a weakness as it does not take into account other responses

Question 9

Rarely needed in the modern day

Answer 9

• the fight or flight response may have been a useful survival mechanism for our ancestors, who faced genuinely life-threatening situations (e.g. from predators), modern day life rarely requires such an intense biological response.
• Furthermore, the stressors of modern day life can repeatedly activate the fight or flight response, which can have a negative consequence on our health
  E.g. humans who face a lot of stress and continually activate the sympathetic nervous system, continually increase their blood pressure which can cause damage to their blood vessels and heart disease.
• This suggests that the fight or flight response is a maladaptive response in modern-day life.