The fight or flight response

Question 1

flight or fight response

Answer 1

The endocrine system & autonomic nervous system work in parallels with one another e.g during a stressful event
* when a stressor is percieved, the ( hypothalamus) triggers activity in the sympathetic branch of the ANS
* The ANS changes from its normal resting state( the parasympathetic state) to the psychologically aroused sympathetic state
* The stress hormone adrenaline is released from the adrenaline medulla ( part of adrenal gland) into the bloodstream]
* adrenaline triggers psychological changes in the body ( e.g increased heart rate) creating the psychological arousal for flight or fight response

Question 2

Outline what happends in flight or fight response after threat has passed

Answer 2

Once threat has passed, the parasympathetic nervous system returns the body into its normal resting state
* The parasympathetic branch of the ANS works in opposition to the sympathetic nervous system
* The parasympathetic nervous system acts as a brake & reduces the activities of the body that was increased by the actions of the sympathetic branch- ‘the rest & digest’ response

Question 3

A03

Flight or fight response is typically male response

limitation

Answer 3

fight or flight response is typically male response to danger & more recent research suggests females adopt a ‘tend & befriend’ response in stressful/dangerous situations.
* According to Taylor et al. (2000), women are more likely to protect their offspring (tend) & form alliances with other women (befriend), rather than fight an adversary or flee. Furthermore, the fight or flight response may be counterintuitive for women, as running (flight) might be seen as a sign of weakness & put their offspring at risk of danger.

Question 4

A03

our reactions are not limited to Flight or fight response

Limitation

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Androcentrism

Limitation

Answer 5

early research into the fight or flight response was typically conducted on males (androcentrism) and consequently, researchers assumed that the findings could be generalised to females. This highlights a beta bias within this area of psychology as psychologists assumed that females responded in the same way as males, until Taylor provided evidence of a tend and befriend response.