Fight or flight

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Created by
QuietSquirrel512

Cards (6)

  • Fight or flight stages
    1. A stressor is detected in the environment by a sensory neurone
    2. The amygdala sends a stress signal to the hypothalamus
    3. hypothalamus activates the pituitary gland which triggers the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system
    4. Sympathetic nervous system activates the adrenal medulla to release adrenaline
    5. adrenaline increases (heart rate) and inhibits (digestion) functions of the body
    6. Parasympathetic division triggers rest and digest to bring conditions back to normal
  • Fight or flight weakness; Taylor (2000) suggests that women adopt a "tend or befriend" response as opposed to fight or flight in which they form groups to protect offspring suggesting gender bias and beta bias
  • Fight or flight weakness; less applicable today as it is based off a survival based response that is largely no longer needed by humans living in safe environments as opposed to the wild
  • Fight or flight strength; real world application as it can be used to explain PTSD as being when the sympathetic division of the autonomous nervous system being in a constant state of arousal sustaining the fight or flight response even when a stressor is no longer present allowing treatments that focus on activating the parasympathetic divisions rest and digest response to be developed; HOWEVER this only deals with physical symptoms with psychological symptoms persisting and remaining difficult to treat
  • Fight or flight strength; reliable as it can be observed easily through methods such as measuring hormone levels (such as adrenaline) in saliva samples for example which are objective and unbiased showing it as easily studied by psychologists HOWEVER it does not take in to account individual differences in hormone levels as some people have naturally higher levels of adrenaline (for example) than others limiting its generalisability
  • Fight or flight weakness; biologically reductionist as it does not consider how other factors such as upbringing and environment could impact our response to stressors