The fight or flight response

• Outline the first step of the fight or flight response.

  The amygdala detects when a threat occurs.

  It sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus that activates the sympathetic nervous system.
• Outline the second step of the fight or flight response.

  The sympathetic nervous system triggers the adrenal glands to start secreting adrenaline.
• Outline the third step of the fight or flight response. 


  This produces physiological changes that prepare the body for fight or flight e.g. increased breathing and heart rate (to increase oxygen/energy for the muscles) and inhibition of saliva production and digestion (to conserve energy).

  Other physiological changes include diversion of blood away from the surface of the skin (to reduce blood loss if injured), pupil dilation (to improve sight), and increased sweating (to regulate body temperature).
• Outline the fourth step of the fight or flight response. 


  Once the threat has passed, the parasympathetic nervous system restores the body back to its resting state by producing the opposite physiological changes e.g. it decreases breathing and heart rate.
• Evaluate research into the fight or flight response: negative implications for victims of sexual assault.


  This is because it fails to consider how people can also engage in a ‘freeze’ response when exposed to a threat. This is a limitation because as some victims of sexual assault do not fight or flight, they are suggested to have consented.
• Evaluate research into the fight or flight response: reflects a male response to danger. 


  This is because more recent research suggests that females adopt a ‘tend and befriend’ response whereby they protect their offspring (tend) and form alliances with other women (befriend) rather than fight or light. This is a limitation because it shows how researchers have underestimated gender differences when it comes to responding to danger.
• Evaluate research into the fight or flight response: positive applications when it comes to understanding and treating PTSD. 


  Research has found that veterans show increased activity in their amygdala so activate their fight or flight response more often. This is a strength because this has led to treatments such as mindfulness interventions that aim to decrease the reactivity of the

  amygdala, and these are found to be effective.