8.16: Reading- The Positioning Process
Getting to the Right Position
Arriving at the best positioning and differentiation strategy involves a process. The goal of the process is to design an identity that both confirms the value of the product, service, or brand in the customer’s mind and explains why and how the offering is better than the competition. To reach that goal, marketers typically follow a positioning process comprised of the following five steps:
Steps of the Positioning Process
- Confirm your understanding of market dynamics
- Identify your competitive advantages
- Choose competitive advantages that define your market “niche”
- Define your positioning strategy
- Communicate and deliver on the positioning strategy
Step 1: Confirm Your Understanding of Market Dynamics
At the start of the positioning process, you need a firm understanding of your target market and answers to the following questions:
- In which product, service, or market category (also called the “frame of reference”) do you plan to use this positioning?
- Which target segment is your focus for the positioning you are developing?
- What factors do these buyers evaluate when they make a purchasing decision?
- How do these buyers view your competitors in the category?
If you don’t have answers to these questions, you should consider conducting formal or informal marketing research to reach a better understanding of your target market and the market dynamics around it. Some marketers may have the time and resources to conduct extensive research, while others may need to rely on their own experience and anecdotal conversations with target customers. Either way, you’ll remember that the customer is at the center of the marketing mix, so knowing whom you’re targeting is the only place to start.
Step 2: Identify Your Competitive Advantages
A competitive advantage is some trait, quality, or capability that allows you to outperform the competition. It gives your product, service, or brand an advantage over others in purchasing decisions. Competitive advantage may come from any or all of the following:
- Price: Something in your production process or supply chain may make it possible for you to provide comparable value at a lower cost than competitors.
- Features: You may provide tangible or intangible features that your competitors do not: for example, more colors, better taste, a more elegant design, quicker delivery, personalized service, etc.
- Benefits: You may provide unique benefits to customers that your competitors cannot match. Benefits are intangible strengths or outcomes your customer gets when they use your offering. For example, time savings, convenience, increased control, enjoyment, relaxation, more choices, feeling better about oneself, being more attractive, etc.
Create a list of the things that make you different from competitors in positive ways. Then identify which of these factors are also competitive advantages: the influential factors that help you perform better in the marketplace and cause customers to choose your product, service, or brand over other options.
As a rule, it is relatively easy for competitors to undercut your pricing or match your features, so it is difficult to maintain a consistent competitive advantage in either of these areas. Market-leading products, services, and brands are most likely to differentiate based on benefits—the intangible strengths and outcomes that are harder for competitors to match.
For example, many car companies achieve strong ratings in safety tests, but driving a Volvo provides an extra, intangible benefit for the driver of feeling safer because of Volvo’s longstanding record and reputation for safety. A variety of theme parks in Southern California offer exciting rides and family fun, but only Disneyland’s Magic Kingdom makes people feel like they’re in the happiest place on earth .
You don’t necessarily need a long list of competitive advantages, but your list should be substantive: it should include the things that truly create distance between your offering and competitors. Dig deep to identify the intangible benefits your customers experience–or intangible benefits they could experience—from your offering that make it different and better than the alternatives.
Step 3: Choose Competitive Advantages That Define Your Niche
Your list of competitive advantages represents a set of possible positioning strategies you could pursue for your product, service, or brand. The next step is to examine how these factors fit into customer perceptions of your broader competitive set. Your goal is to pick a positioning approach that gives you a unique and valued position in the market that competitors are not addressing.
A perceptual map is a great tool for this step. Perceptual maps create a picture of how different competitors are positioned in the market, based on the key criteria that strongly influence customer decisions. Examples of two different perceptual maps are included below. The first one maps automobile brands based on customer perceptions of price and quality. The second one maps lifestyle programming on cable TV channels, according to whether it is younger/edgier vs. older/mainstream and educational vs. entertainment.
Marketers use these sorts of perceptual maps to identify gaps in the market; these, in turn, represent opportunities to to fill a niche in the market that isn’t being addressed. For example, the lifestyle programming map suggests that there are not a lot of choices in the area of younger/edgier AND educational space. This might be a good place to position a new cable channel or programming direction. On the other hand, there are already lots of established players in the younger/edgier/entertaining space, so new entrants would have to beat out more competition to make an impact.
You can create a perceptual map similar to these by identifying the key criteria customers use when deciding what to buy and setting these as the horizontal and vertical axes. Then you can overlay competitors in the perceptual space where they seem to fit. You can even create multiple maps of the same market with different criteria on the horizontal and vertical axes to get a different view of how competitors are positioned. Perceptual maps are most robust when they are based on actual marketing research data, but marketers can also create directional maps based on their experience and anecdotal understanding of market dynamics.
With your maps in hand, look for areas where there are fewer competitors: these are the spaces where you are most likely to be successful creating your own niche. Consider where your competitive advantages would help you fit well into these gaps; this will direct you to the strongest positioning opportunities for your product, service, or brand.
Give this approach a try: Suppose you are exploring whether to introduce your homemade, artisan-style ice cream to a wider audience, which will mean competing with national brands carried in local and regional grocery stores. Looking at the following perceptual map, where are the gaps in which you could create a niche for your product? Who would be your closest competitors?
Your competitive advantage around a homemade, artisan-style product puts you on the upper half of the map. You would have to choose between more classic versus interesting and innovative ice cream choices.  Alternatively, you might choose to introduce an ice cream line that capitalizes on interesting flavor combinations using local and seasonal ingredients, which would position you squarely in the innovative quadrant. Either approach could be a winning combination in a unique market niche.
If you choose not to create a perceptual map, an alternate approach is to list competitors and their competitive advantages. Then, add your own own offering and competitive advantages to the list. Based on the alternatives available to customers, think about where there are gaps between what customers want and value most and what they can get from the choices available today. Identify where your competitive advantages can help you fit into these gaps, since they will be the most promising positioning approaches for you.
Remember to think creatively as you are defining your competitive advantages and choosing those that will define your positioning and market niche. You have a greater likelihood of success if you are also the first in the market to claim your positioning. You won’t have to displace anyone else, and you can generate excitement by fulfilling a previously unmet need.
Step 4: Define Your Positioning Strategy
With your competitive advantages identified and information about how key competitors are positioned, you’re ready to evaluate and select your positioning strategy. This is the decision you make about how, exactly, you plan to position your offering relative to the rest of the field. How will you be different and better?
There are several common positioning strategies you should consider, shown in the following table:
| Differentiator | Positioning Strategy | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Category Benefit | Position yourself as “owning” an important benefit and delivering it better than anyone else |
Volvo = Safety
Hallmark = Caring shared Hawaii = Aloha spirit |
| Best fit for the Customer | Position yourself as an ideal fit for the customer’s personality, style, and approach |
Red Bull = Extreme
Guess Jeans = Sexy chic Virgin Atlantic = Ultra cool fun |
| Business Approach | Position yourself with a distinctive approach to doing business |
Jimmy John’s = Unbelievably fast
TurboTax = Easy DIY |
| Anti-Competition | Position yourself as a preferred alternative to the competition |
Apple = Think different
Seven-Up = The Uncola |
| Price | Position yourself according to pricing: lowest cost, best value for the money, luxury or premium offering, etc. |
Wal-Mart = Lowest prices
RyanAir = Cheap flights Old Navy = Affordable fashion |
| Quality | Position yourself according to a quality standard: high quality, best-in-class, or else reliably good quality at a reasonable price |
Hearts on Fire = Perfect cut
Ritz Carlton = Ultimate luxury |
Strong positioning is simple: it focuses on a single, powerful concept that is important to the customer. It uses your most promising competitive advantage to carve out the niche you will fill better than anyone else. Your positioning strategy puts this competitive advantage into the context of your competitive set: it explains what distinguishes you from the competition. Perhaps you deliver an emotional benefit that your target audience doesn’t get anywhere else (escape? balance?) Perhaps you are hands down the best choice for a geeky, gear-head audience (bikers, coders). Perhaps you provide great customer service in a category where customer service is unheard of (cable TV, contractors).
 Concoct it well.
Step 5: Communicate and Deliver on Your Positioning Strategy
The next sections of this module will delve deeper into this step, but don’t underestimate its importance. Communicating your positioning strategy begins with creating a positioning statement and sharing it internally across the organization to make sure that everyone understands how and where your offering will fit in the market. Your positioning builds on a competitive advantage, and it is essential for you to deliver on the expectations your positioning sets in customers’ minds. You should design your positioning strategy to endure over time, while recognizing that it can and should be adjusted from time to time to reflect changes in the competitive set, your target segment, market trends, and so forth.
If your positioning is based on being an ideal “lifestyle” fit for your target audience, for example, you need to demonstrate how your offering is attuned to the needs and experiences of this audience. This includes evolving as your target segment evolves. If your positioning is based on “owning” an important benefit like security or reliability or delight , then you should explore all the ways you can deliver that benefit better than any competitor who might try to imitate you.
The marketing mix provides the set of coordinated tools you use to execute on your positioning strategy. You might think of your positioning strategy as the tune you want your target segment to hear. The marketing mix is how you orchestrate and harmonize that tune, making it a memorable, preferred choice for your target customers.
Contributors and Attributions
- Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
- Consumer Perception of Automotive Brands. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
- Consumer Perception of Automotive Brands. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
- Multi-Dimensional Perceptual Map. Authored by : Ste.kaleta. Provided by : Wikimedia Commons. Located at : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Multi-Dimensional_Perceptual_Map.gif . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
- Musical Crane. Authored by : Sodanie Chea. Located at : https://www.flickr.com/photos/sodaniechea/7106905103/ . License : CC BY: Attribution


3.2: Membranes
Membrane Lipids
The cell membrane is a dynamic structure composed of lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. It protects the cell by preventing materials from leaking out, controls what can enter or leave through the membrane, provides a binding site for hormones and other chemicals, and serves as an identification card for the immune system to distinguish between “self” and “non-self” cells. We will first investigate the anatomy of the cell membrane and then continue on to study the physiology of membrane transport.
The phospholipid bilayer is the main fabric of the membrane. The bilayer’s structure causes the membrane to be semi-permeable. Remember that phospholipid molecules are amphiphilic, which means that they contain both a nonpolar and polar region. Phospholipids have a polar head (it contains a charged phosphate group) with two nonpolar hydrophobic fatty acid tails. The tails of the phospholipids face each other in the core of the membrane while each polar head lies on the outside and inside of the cell. Having the polar heads oriented toward the external and internal sides of the membrane attracts other polar molecules to the cell membrane. The hydrophobic core blocks the diffusion of hydrophilic ions and polar molecules. Small hydrophobic molecules and gases, which can dissolve in the membrane’s core, cross it with ease.
Other molecules require proteins to transport them across the membrane. Proteins determine most of the membrane’s specific functions. The plasma membrane and the membranes of the various organelles each have unique collections of proteins. For example, to date more than 50 kinds of proteins have been found in the plasma membrane of red blood cells.
Importance of Phospholipid Membrane Structure
What is important about the structure of a phospholipid membrane? First, it is fluid. This allows cells to change shape, permitting growth and movement. The fluidity of the membrane is regulated by the types of phospholipids and the presence of cholesterol. Second, the phospholipid membrane is selectively permeable.
The ability of a molecule to pass through the membrane depends on its polarity and to some extent its size. Many non-polar molecules such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and small hydrocarbons can flow easily through cell membranes. This feature of membranes is very important because hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen in our blood, is contained within red blood cells. Oxygen must be able to freely cross the membrane so that hemoglobin can get fully loaded with oxygen in our lungs, and deliver it effectively to our tissues. Most polar substances are stopped by a cell membrane, except perhaps for small polar compounds like the one carbon alcohol, methanol. Glucose is too large to pass through the membrane unassisted and a special transporter protein ferries it across. One type of diabetes is caused by misregulation of the glucose transporter. This decreases the ability of glucose to enter the cell and results in high blood glucose levels. Charged ions, such as sodium (Na+) or potassium (K+) ions seldom go through a membrane, consequently they also need special transporter molecules to pass through the membrane. The inability of Na+ and K+ to pass through the membrane allows the cell to regulate the concentrations of these ions on the inside or outside of the cell. The conduction of electrical signals in your neurons is based on the ability of cells to control Na+ and K+ levels.
Selectively permeable membranes allow cells to keep the chemistry of the cytoplasm different from that of the external environment. It also allows them to maintain chemically unique conditions inside their organelles.
Fluidity of Cell Membranes
The cell membrane is not a static structure. It is a dynamic structure that allows the movement of phospholipids and proteins. Fluidity is a term used to describe the ease of movement of molecules in the membrane and is an important characteristic for cell function. Fluidity is dependent on the temperature (increased temperatures it more fluid and decreased temperatures make it more solid), saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids make the membrane less fluid while unsaturated fatty acids make it more fluid. The correct ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids keeps the membrane fluid at any temperature conducive to life. For example, winter wheat responds to decreasing temperatures by increasing the amount of unsaturated fatty acids in cell membranes to prevent the cell membrane from becoming too solid in the cold. In animal cells, cholesterol helps to prevent the packing of fatty acid tails and thus lowers the requirement of unsaturated fatty acids. This helps maintain the fluid nature of the cell membrane without it becoming too liquid at body temperature.
Contributors and Attributions
- Membranes. Authored by : Open Learning Initiative. Provided by : Carnegie Mellon University. Located at : https://oli.cmu.edu/jcourse/workbook/activity/page?context=43488cb580020ca6016efee1b24b8d4c . Project : Anatomy & Physiology. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike


17.2: Hormones
Learning Objectives
- Identify the three major classes of hormones on the basis of chemical structure
- Compare and contrast intracellular and cell membrane hormone receptors
- Describe signaling pathways that involve cAMP and IP3
- Identify several factors that influence a target cell’s response
- Discuss the role of feedback loops and humoral, hormonal, and neural stimuli in hormone control
Although a given hormone may travel throughout the body in the bloodstream, it will affect the activity only of its target cells; that is, cells with receptors for that particular hormone. Once the hormone binds to the receptor, a chain of events is initiated that leads to the target cell’s response. Hormones play a critical role in the regulation of physiological processes because of the target cell responses they regulate. These responses contribute to human reproduction, growth and development of body tissues, metabolism, fluid, and electrolyte balance, sleep, and many other body functions. The major hormones of the human body and their effects are identified in Table \(\PageIndex{1}\).
| Endocrine gland | Associated hormones | Chemical class | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pituitary (anterior) | Growth hormone (GH) | Protein | Promotes growth of body tissues |
| Pituitary (anterior) | Prolactin (PRL) | Peptide | Promotes milk production |
| Pituitary (anterior) | Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) | Glycoprotein | Stimulates thyroid hormone release |
| Pituitary (anterior) | Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) | Peptide | Stimulates hormone release by adrenal cortex |
| Pituitary (anterior) | Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) | Glycoprotein | Stimulates gamete production |
| Pituitary (anterior) | Luteinizing hormone (LH) | Glycoprotein | Stimulates androgen production by gonads |
| Pituitary (posterior) | Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) | Peptide | Stimulates water reabsorption by kidneys |
| Pituitary (posterior) | Oxytocin | Peptide | Stimulates uterine contractions during childbirth |
| Thyroid | Thyroxine (T 4 ), triiodothyronine (T 3 ) | Amine | Stimulate basal metabolic rate |
| Thyroid | Calcitonin | Peptide | Reduces blood Ca 2+ levels |
| Parathyroid | Parathyroid hormone (PTH) | Peptide | Increases blood Ca 2+ levels |
| Adrenal (cortex) | Aldosterone | Steroid | Increases blood Na + levels |
| Adrenal (cortex) | Cortisol, corticosterone, cortisone | Steroid | Increase blood glucose levels |
| Adrenal (medulla) | Epinephrine, norepinephrine | Amine | Stimulate fight-or-flight response |
| Pineal | Melatonin | Amine | Regulates sleep cycles |
| Pancreas | Insulin | Protein | Reduces blood glucose levels |
| Pancreas | Glucagon | Protein | Increases blood glucose levels |
| Testes | Testosterone | Steroid | Stimulates development of male secondary sex characteristics and sperm production |
| Ovaries | Estrogens and progesterone | Steroid | Stimulate development of female secondary sex characteristics and prepare the body for childbirth |
Types of Hormones
The hormones of the human body can be divided into two major groups on the basis of their chemical structure. Hormones derived from amino acids include amines, peptides, and proteins. Those derived from lipids include steroids (Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)). These chemical groups affect a hormone’s distribution, the type of receptors it binds to, and other aspects of its function.
Amine Hormones
Hormones derived from the modification of amino acids are referred to as amine hormones. Typically, the original structure of the amino acid is modified such that a –COOH, or carboxyl, group is removed, whereas the NH 3 + ,or amine, group remains.
Amine hormones are synthesized from the amino acids tryptophan or tyrosine. An example of a hormone derived from tryptophan is melatonin, which is secreted by the pineal gland and helps regulate circadian rhythm. Tyrosine derivatives include the metabolism-regulating thyroid hormones, as well as the catecholamines, such as epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Epinephrine and norepinephrine are secreted by the adrenal medulla and play a role in the fight-or-flight response, whereas dopamine is secreted by the hypothalamus and inhibits the release of certain anterior pituitary hormones.
Peptide and Protein Hormones
Whereas the amine hormones are derived from a single amino acid, peptide and protein hormones consist of multiple amino acids that link to form an amino acid chain. Peptide hormones consist of short chains of amino acids, whereas protein hormones are longer polypeptides. Both types are synthesized like other body proteins: DNA is transcribed into mRNA, which is translated into an amino acid chain.
Examples of peptide hormones include antidiuretic hormone (ADH), a pituitary hormone important in fluid balance, and atrial-natriuretic peptide, which is produced by the heart and helps to decrease blood pressure. Some examples of protein hormones include growth hormone, which is produced by the pituitary gland, and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which has an attached carbohydrate group and is thus classified as a glycoprotein. FSH helps stimulate the maturation of eggs in the ovaries and sperm in the testes.
Steroid Hormones
The primary hormones derived from lipids are steroids. Steroid hormones are derived from the lipid cholesterol. For example, the reproductive hormones testosterone and the estrogens—which are produced by the gonads (testes and ovaries)—are steroid hormones. The adrenal glands produce the steroid hormone aldosterone, which is involved in osmoregulation, and cortisol, which plays a role in metabolism.
Like cholesterol, steroid hormones are not soluble in water (they are hydrophobic). Because blood is water-based, lipid-derived hormones must travel to their target cell bound to a transport protein. This more complex structure extends the half-life of steroid hormones much longer than that of hormones derived from amino acids. A hormone’s half-life is the time required for half the concentration of the hormone to be degraded. For example, the lipid-derived hormone cortisol has a half-life of approximately 60 to 90 minutes. In contrast, the amino acid–derived hormone epinephrine has a half-life of approximately one minute.
Pathways of Hormone Action
The message a hormone sends is received by a hormone receptor , a protein located either inside the cell or within the cell membrane. The receptor will process the message by initiating other signaling events or cellular mechanisms that result in the target cell’s response. Hormone receptors recognize molecules with specific shapes and side groups, and respond only to those hormones that are recognized. The same type of receptor may be located on cells in different body tissues, and trigger somewhat different responses. Thus, the response triggered by a hormone depends not only on the hormone, but also on the target cell.
Once the target cell receives the hormone signal, it can respond in a variety of ways. The response may include the stimulation of protein synthesis, activation or deactivation of enzymes, alteration in the permeability of the cell membrane, altered rates of mitosis and cell growth, and stimulation of the secretion of products. Moreover, a single hormone may be capable of inducing different responses in a given cell.
Pathways Involving Intracellular Hormone Receptors
Intracellular hormone receptors are located inside the cell. Hormones that bind to this type of receptor must be able to cross the cell membrane. Steroid hormones are derived from cholesterol and therefore can readily diffuse through the lipid bilayer of the cell membrane to reach the intracellular receptor (Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\)). Thyroid hormones, which contain benzene rings studded with iodine, are also lipid-soluble and can enter the cell.
The location of steroid and thyroid hormone binding differs slightly: a steroid hormone may bind to its receptor within the cytosol or within the nucleus. In either case, this binding generates a hormone-receptor complex that moves toward the chromatin in the cell nucleus and binds to a particular segment of the cell’s DNA. In contrast, thyroid hormones bind to receptors already bound to DNA. For both steroid and thyroid hormones, binding of the hormone-receptor complex with DNA triggers transcription of a target gene to mRNA, which moves to the cytosol and directs protein synthesis by ribosomes.
Pathways Involving Cell Membrane Hormone Receptors
Hydrophilic, or water-soluble, hormones are unable to diffuse through the lipid bilayer of the cell membrane and must therefore pass on their message to a receptor located at the surface of the cell. Except for thyroid hormones, which are lipid-soluble, all amino acid–derived hormones bind to cell membrane receptors that are located, at least in part, on the extracellular surface of the cell membrane. Therefore, they do not directly affect the transcription of target genes, but instead initiate a signaling cascade that is carried out by a molecule called a second messenger . In this case, the hormone is called a first messenger .
The second messenger used by most hormones is cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) . In the cAMP second messenger system, a water-soluble hormone binds to its receptor in the cell membrane (Step 1 in Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\)). This receptor is associated with an intracellular component called a G protein , and binding of the hormone activates the G-protein component (Step 2). The activated G protein in turn activates an enzyme called adenylyl cyclase , also known as adenylate cyclase (Step 3), which converts adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to cAMP (Step 4). As the second messenger, cAMP activates a type of enzyme called a protein kinase that is present in the cytosol (Step 5). Activated protein kinases initiate a phosphorylation cascade , in which multiple protein kinases phosphorylate (add a phosphate group to) numerous and various cellular proteins, including other enzymes (Step 6).
The phosphorylation of cellular proteins can trigger a wide variety of effects, from nutrient metabolism to the synthesis of different hormones and other products. The effects vary according to the type of target cell, the G proteins and kinases involved, and the phosphorylation of proteins. Examples of hormones that use cAMP as a second messenger include calcitonin, which is important for bone construction and regulating blood calcium levels; glucagon, which plays a role in blood glucose levels; and thyroid-stimulating hormone, which causes the release of T 3 and T 4 from the thyroid gland.
Overall, the phosphorylation cascade significantly increases the efficiency, speed, and specificity of the hormonal response, as thousands of signaling events can be initiated simultaneously in response to a very low concentration of hormone in the bloodstream. However, the duration of the hormone signal is short, as cAMP is quickly deactivated by the enzyme phosphodiesterase (PDE) , which is located in the cytosol. The action of PDE helps to ensure that a target cell’s response ceases quickly unless new hormones arrive at the cell membrane.
Importantly, there are also G proteins that decrease the levels of cAMP in the cell in response to hormone binding. For example, when growth hormone–inhibiting hormone (GHIH), also known as somatostatin, binds to its receptors in the pituitary gland, the level of cAMP decreases, thereby inhibiting the secretion of human growth hormone.
Not all water-soluble hormones initiate the cAMP second messenger system. One common alternative system uses calcium ions as a second messenger. In this system, G proteins activate the enzyme phospholipase C (PLC), which functions similarly to adenylyl cyclase. Once activated, PLC cleaves a membrane-bound phospholipid into two molecules: diacylglycerol (DAG) and inositol triphosphate (IP 3 ) . Like cAMP, DAG activates protein kinases that initiate a phosphorylation cascade. At the same time, IP 3 causes calcium ions to be released from storage sites within the cytosol, such as from within the smooth endoplasmic reticulum. The calcium ions then act as second messengers in two ways: they can influence enzymatic and other cellular activities directly, or they can bind to calcium-binding proteins, the most common of which is calmodulin. Upon binding calcium, calmodulin is able to modulate protein kinase within the cell. Examples of hormones that use calcium ions as a second messenger system include angiotensin II, which helps regulate blood pressure through vasoconstriction, and growth hormone–releasing hormone (GHRH), which causes the pituitary gland to release growth hormones.
Factors Affecting Target Cell Response
You will recall that target cells must have receptors specific to a given hormone if that hormone is to trigger a response. But several other factors influence the target cell response. For example, the presence of a significant level of a hormone circulating in the bloodstream can cause its target cells to decrease their number of receptors for that hormone. This process is called downregulation , and it allows cells to become less reactive to the excessive hormone levels. When the level of a hormone is chronically reduced, target cells engage in upregulation to increase their number of receptors. This process allows cells to be more sensitive to the hormone that is present. Cells can also alter the sensitivity of the receptors themselves to various hormones.
Two or more hormones can interact to affect the response of cells in a variety of ways. The three most common types of interaction are as follows:
- The permissive effect, in which the presence of one hormone enables another hormone to act. For example, thyroid hormones have complex permissive relationships with certain reproductive hormones. A dietary deficiency of iodine, a component of thyroid hormones, can therefore affect reproductive system development and functioning.
- The synergistic effect, in which two hormones with similar effects produce an amplified response. In some cases, two hormones are required for an adequate response. For example, two different reproductive hormones—FSH from the pituitary gland and estrogens from the ovaries—are required for the maturation of female ova (egg cells).
- The antagonistic effect, in which two hormones have opposing effects. A familiar example is the effect of two pancreatic hormones, insulin and glucagon. Insulin increases the liver’s storage of glucose as glycogen, decreasing blood glucose, whereas glucagon stimulates the breakdown of glycogen stores, increasing blood glucose.
Regulation of Hormone Secretion
To prevent abnormal hormone levels and a potential disease state, hormone levels must be tightly controlled. The body maintains this control by balancing hormone production and degradation. Feedback loops govern the initiation and maintenance of most hormone secretion in response to various stimuli.
Role of Feedback Loops
The contribution of feedback loops to homeostasis will only be briefly reviewed here. Positive feedback loops are characterized by the release of additional hormone in response to an original hormone release. The release of oxytocin during childbirth is a positive feedback loop. The initial release of oxytocin begins to signal the uterine muscles to contract, which pushes the fetus toward the cervix, causing it to stretch. This, in turn, signals the pituitary gland to release more oxytocin, causing labor contractions to intensify. The release of oxytocin decreases after the birth of the child.
The more common method of hormone regulation is the negative feedback loop. Negative feedback is characterized by the inhibition of further secretion of a hormone in response to adequate levels of that hormone. This allows blood levels of the hormone to be regulated within a narrow range. An example of a negative feedback loop is the release of glucocorticoid hormones from the adrenal glands, as directed by the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. As glucocorticoid concentrations in the blood rise, the hypothalamus and pituitary gland reduce their signaling to the adrenal glands to prevent additional glucocorticoid secretion (Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\)).
Role of Endocrine Gland Stimuli
Reflexes triggered by both chemical and neural stimuli control endocrine activity. These reflexes may be simple, involving only one hormone response, or they may be more complex and involve many hormones, as is the case with the hypothalamic control of various anterior pituitary–controlled hormones.
Humoral stimuli are changes in blood levels of non-hormone chemicals, such as nutrients or ions, which cause the release or inhibition of a hormone to, in turn, maintain homeostasis. For example, osmoreceptors in the hypothalamus detect changes in blood osmolarity (the concentration of solutes in the blood plasma). If blood osmolarity is too high, meaning that the blood is not dilute enough, osmoreceptors signal the hypothalamus to release ADH. The hormone causes the kidneys to reabsorb more water and reduce the volume of urine produced. This reabsorption causes a reduction of the osmolarity of the blood, diluting the blood to the appropriate level. The regulation of blood glucose is another example. High blood glucose levels cause the release of insulin from the pancreas, which increases glucose uptake by cells and liver storage of glucose as glycogen.
An endocrine gland may also secrete a hormone in response to the presence of another hormone produced by a different endocrine gland. Such hormonal stimuli often involve the hypothalamus, which produces releasing and inhibiting hormones that control the secretion of a variety of pituitary hormones.
In addition to these chemical signals, hormones can also be released in response to neural stimuli. A common example of neural stimuli is the activation of the fight-or-flight response by the sympathetic nervous system. When an individual perceives danger, sympathetic neurons signal the adrenal glands to secrete norepinephrine and epinephrine. The two hormones dilate blood vessels, increase the heart and respiratory rate, and suppress the digestive and immune systems. These responses boost the body’s transport of oxygen to the brain and muscles, thereby improving the body’s ability to fight or flee.
EVERYDAY CONNECTIONS: Bisphenol A and Endocrine Disruption
You may have heard news reports about the effects of a chemical called bisphenol A (BPA) in various types of food packaging. BPA is used in the manufacturing of hard plastics and epoxy resins. Common food-related items that may contain BPA include the lining of aluminum cans, plastic food-storage containers, drinking cups, as well as baby bottles and “sippy” cups. Other uses of BPA include medical equipment, dental fillings, and the lining of water pipes.
Research suggests that BPA is an endocrine disruptor, meaning that it negatively interferes with the endocrine system, particularly during the prenatal and postnatal development period. In particular, BPA mimics the hormonal effects of estrogens and has the opposite effect—that of androgens. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notes in their statement about BPA safety that although traditional toxicology studies have supported the safety of low levels of exposure to BPA, recent studies using novel approaches to test for subtle effects have led to some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland in fetuses, infants, and young children. The FDA is currently facilitating decreased use of BPA in food-related materials. Many US companies have voluntarily removed BPA from baby bottles, “sippy” cups, and the linings of infant formula cans, and most plastic reusable water bottles sold today boast that they are “BPA free.” In contrast, both Canada and the European Union have completely banned the use of BPA in baby products.
The potential harmful effects of BPA have been studied in both animal models and humans and include a large variety of health effects, such as developmental delay and disease. For example, prenatal exposure to BPA during the first trimester of human pregnancy may be associated with wheezing and aggressive behavior during childhood. Adults exposed to high levels of BPA may experience altered thyroid signaling and male sexual dysfunction. BPA exposure during the prenatal or postnatal period of development in animal models has been observed to cause neurological delays, changes in brain structure and function, sexual dysfunction, asthma, and increased risk for multiple cancers. In vitro studies have also shown that BPA exposure causes molecular changes that initiate the development of cancers of the breast, prostate, and brain. Although these studies have implicated BPA in numerous ill health effects, some experts caution that some of these studies may be flawed and that more research needs to be done. In the meantime, the FDA recommends that consumers take precautions to limit their exposure to BPA. In addition to purchasing foods in packaging free of BPA, consumers should avoid carrying or storing foods or liquids in bottles with the recycling code 3 or 7. Foods and liquids should not be microwave-heated in any form of plastic: use paper, glass, or ceramics instead.
Chapter Review
Hormones are derived from amino acids or lipids. Amine hormones originate from the amino acids tryptophan or tyrosine. Larger amino acid hormones include peptides and protein hormones. Steroid hormones are derived from cholesterol.
Steroid hormones and thyroid hormone are lipid soluble. All other amino acid–derived hormones are water soluble. Hydrophobic hormones are able to diffuse through the membrane and interact with an intracellular receptor. In contrast, hydrophilic hormones must interact with cell membrane receptors. These are typically associated with a G protein, which becomes activated when the hormone binds the receptor. This initiates a signaling cascade that involves a second messenger, such as cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). Second messenger systems greatly amplify the hormone signal, creating a broader, more efficient, and faster response.
Hormones are released upon stimulation that is of either chemical or neural origin. Regulation of hormone release is primarily achieved through negative feedback. Various stimuli may cause the release of hormones, but there are three major types. Humoral stimuli are changes in ion or nutrient levels in the blood. Hormonal stimuli are changes in hormone levels that initiate or inhibit the secretion of another hormone. Finally, a neural stimulus occurs when a nerve impulse prompts the secretion or inhibition of a hormone.
Review Questions
Q. A newly developed pesticide has been observed to bind to an intracellular hormone receptor. If ingested, residue from this pesticide could disrupt levels of ________.
A. melatonin
B. thyroid hormone
C. growth hormone
D. insulin
Answer: B
Q. A small molecule binds to a G protein, preventing its activation. What direct effect will this have on signaling that involves cAMP?
A. The hormone will not be able to bind to the hormone receptor.
B. Adenylyl cyclase will not be activated.
C. Excessive quantities of cAMP will be produced.
D. The phosphorylation cascade will be initiated.
Answer: B
Q. A student is in a car accident, and although not hurt, immediately experiences pupil dilation, increased heart rate, and rapid breathing. What type of endocrine system stimulus did the student receive?
A. humoral
B. hormonal
C. neural
D. positive feedback
Answer: C
Critical Thinking Questions
Q. Compare and contrast the signaling events involved with the second messengers cAMP and IP 3 .
A. In both cAMP and IP 3 –calcium signaling, a hormone binds to a cell membrane hormone receptor that is coupled to a G protein. The G protein becomes activated when the hormone binds. In the case of cAMP signaling, the activated G protein activates adenylyl cyclase, which causes ATP to be converted to cAMP. This second messenger can then initiate other signaling events, such as a phosphorylation cascade. In the case of IP 3 –calcium signaling, the activated G protein activates phospholipase C, which cleaves a membrane phospholipid compound into DAG and IP 3 . IP 3 causes the release of calcium, another second messenger, from intracellular stores. This causes further signaling events.
Q. Describe the mechanism of hormone response resulting from the binding of a hormone with an intracellular receptor.
A. An intracellular hormone receptor is located within the cell. A hydrophobic hormone diffuses through the cell membrane and binds to the intracellular hormone receptor, which may be in the cytosol or in the cell nucleus. This hormone–receptor complex binds to a segment of DNA. This initiates the transcription of a target gene, the end result of which is protein assembly and the hormonal response.
Glossary
- adenylyl cyclase
- membrane-bound enzyme that converts ATP to cyclic AMP, creating cAMP, as a result of G-protein activation
- cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)
- second messenger that, in response to adenylyl cyclase activation, triggers a phosphorylation cascade
- diacylglycerol (DAG)
- molecule that, like cAMP, activates protein kinases, thereby initiating a phosphorylation cascade
- downregulation
- decrease in the number of hormone receptors, typically in response to chronically excessive levels of a hormone
- first messenger
- hormone that binds to a cell membrane hormone receptor and triggers activation of a second messenger system
- G protein
- protein associated with a cell membrane hormone receptor that initiates the next step in a second messenger system upon activation by hormone–receptor binding
- hormone receptor
- protein within a cell or on the cell membrane that binds a hormone, initiating the target cell response
- inositol triphosphate (IP 3 )
- molecule that initiates the release of calcium ions from intracellular stores
- phosphodiesterase (PDE)
- cytosolic enzyme that deactivates and degrades cAMP
- phosphorylation cascade
- signaling event in which multiple protein kinases phosphorylate the next protein substrate by transferring a phosphate group from ATP to the protein
- protein kinase
- enzyme that initiates a phosphorylation cascade upon activation
- second messenger
- molecule that initiates a signaling cascade in response to hormone binding on a cell membrane receptor and activation of a G protein
Contributors and Attributions
- upregulation
- increase in the number of hormone receptors, typically in response to chronically reduced levels of a hormone
-
OpenStax Anatomy & Physiology (CC BY 4.0). Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology


2.4: Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo
You have already been introduced to Claudio Monteverdi, whose music straddles the late Renaissance and early Baroque. Now let’s explore one of his most significant compositions, L’Orfeo , the first opera considered to be a masterwork.
Introduction
L’Orfeo (SV 318), sometimes called La favola d’Orfeo , is an early Baroque favola in musica , or opera (sometimes considered late Renaissance), by Claudio Monteverdi, with a libretto by Alessandro Striggio. It is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus, and tells the story of his descent to Hades and his fruitless attempt to bring his dead bride Eurydice back to the living world. It was written in 1607 for a court performance during the annual Carnival at Mantua. While the honor of the first ever opera goes to Jacopo Peri’s Dafne , and the earliest surviving opera is Euridice (also by Peri), L’Orfeo has the honor of being the earliest surviving opera that is still regularly performed today.
During the early seventeenth century, the traditional intermedio—a musical sequence between the acts of a straight play—was evolving into the form of a complete musical drama or “opera.” Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo moved this process out of its experimental era and provided the first fully developed example of the new genre. After its initial performance the work was staged again in Mantua, and possibly in other Italian centres in the next few years. Its score was published by Monteverdi in 1609 and again in 1615. After the composer’s death in 1643 the opera went unperformed for many years, and was largely forgotten until a revival of interest in the late nineteenth century led to a spate of modern editions and performances. At first these tended to be unstaged versions within institutes and music societies, but following the first modern dramatised performance in Paris, in 1911, the work began to be seen increasingly often in theatres. After the Second World War most new editions sought authenticity through the use of period instruments. Many recordings were issued, and the opera was increasingly staged in opera houses. In 2007 the quatercentenary of the premiere was celebrated by performances throughout the world.
In his published score Monteverdi lists around 41 instruments to be deployed, with distinct groups of instruments used to depict particular scenes and characters. Thus strings, harpsichords and recorders represent the pastoral fields of Thrace with their nymphs and shepherds, while heavy brass illustrates the underworld and its denizens. Composed at the point of transition from the Renaissance era to the Baroque, L’Orfeo employs all the resources then known within the art of music, with particularly daring use of polyphony. The work is not orchestrated as such; in the Renaissance tradition instrumentalists followed the composer’s general instructions but were given considerable freedom to improvise. This separates Monteverdi’s work from the later opera canon, and makes each performance of L’Orfeo a uniquely individual occasion.
Historical Background
Claudio Monteverdi, born in Cremona in 1567, was a musical prodigy who studied under Marc’Antonio Ingegneri, the maestro di cappella (head of music) at Cremona Cathedral. After training in singing, strings playing and composition, Monteverdi worked as a musician in Verona and Milan until, in 1590 or 1591, he secured a post as suonatore di vivuola (viola player) at Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga’s court at Mantua. Through ability and hard work Monteverdi rose to become Gonzaga’s maestro della musica (master of music) in 1601.
Vincenzo Gonzaga’s particular passion for musical theatre and spectacle grew from his family connections with the court of Florence. Towards the end of the 16th century innovative Florentine musicians were developing the intermedio—a long-established form of musical interlude inserted between the acts of spoken dramas—into increasingly elaborate forms. Led by Jacopo Corsi, these successors to the renowned Camerata were responsible for the first work generally recognized as belonging to the genre of opera: Dafne , composed by Corsi and Jacopo Peri and performed in Florence in 1598. This work combined elements of madrigal singing and monody with dancing and instrumental passages to form a dramatic whole. Only fragments of its music still exist, but several other Florentine works of the same period— Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo by Emilio de’ Cavalieri, Peri’s Euridice and Giulio Caccini’s identically titled Euridice —survive complete. These last two works were the first of many musical representations of the Orpheus myth as recounted in Ovid’s Metamorphoses , and as such were direct precursors of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo .
The Gonzaga court had a long history of promoting dramatic entertainment. A century before Duke Vincenzo’s time the court had staged Angelo Poliziano’s lyrical drama La favola di Orfeo , at least half of which was sung rather than spoken. More recently, in 1598 Monteverdi had helped the court’s musical establishment produce Giovanni Battista Guarini’s play Il pastor fido , described by theatre historian Mark Ringer as a “watershed theatrical work” which inspired the Italian craze for pastoral drama. On 6 October 1600, while visiting Florence for the wedding of Maria de’ Medici to King Henry IV of France, Duke Vincenzo attended a production of Peri’s Euridice . It is likely that his principal musicians, including Monteverdi, were also present at this performance. The Duke quickly recognised the novelty of this new form of dramatic entertainment, and its potential for bringing prestige to those prepared to sponsor it.
Composition
When Monteverdi wrote the music for L’Orfeo he had a thorough grounding in theatrical music. He had been employed at the Gonzaga court for 16 years, much of it as a performer or arranger of stage music, and in 1604 he had written the ballo Gli amori di Diane ed Endimone for the 1604–05 Mantua Carnival. The elements from which Monteverdi constructed his first opera score—the aria, the strophic song, recitative, choruses, dances, dramatic musical interludes—were, as conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt has pointed out, not created by him, but “he blended the entire stock of newest and older possibilities into a unity that was indeed new.” Musicologist Robert Donington writes similarly: “[The score] contains no element which was not based on precedent, but it reaches complete maturity in that recently-developed form. . . . Here are words as directly expressed in music as [the pioneers of opera] wanted them expressed; here is music expressing them . . . with the full inspiration of genius.”
Monteverdi states the orchestral requirements at the beginning of his published score, but in accordance with the practice of the day he does not specify their exact usage. At that time it was usual to allow each interpreter of the work freedom to make local decisions, based on the orchestral forces at their disposal. These could differ sharply from place to place. Furthermore, as Harnoncourt points out, the instrumentalists would all have been composers and would have expected to collaborate creatively at each performance, rather than playing a set text. Another practice of the time was to allow singers to embellish their arias. Monteverdi wrote plain and embellished versions of some arias, such as Orfeo’s “Possente spirito,” but according to Harnoncourt “it is obvious that where he did not write any embellishments he did not want any sung.”
Each act of the opera deals with a single element of the story, and each ends with a chorus. Despite the five-act structure, with two sets of scene changes, it is likely that L’Orfeo conformed to the standard practice for court entertainments of that time and was played as a continuous entity, without intervals or curtain descents between acts. It was the contemporary custom for scene shifts to take place in sight of the audience, these changes being reflected musically by changes in instrumentation, key and style.
Synopsis
The action takes place in two contrasting locations: the fields of Thrace (Acts 1, 2 and 5) and the Underworld (Acts 3 and 4). An instrumental toccata (English: tucket , meaning a flourish on trumpets) precedes the entrance of La musica, representing the “spirit of music,” who sings a prologue of five stanzas of verse. After a gracious welcome to the audience she announces that she can, through sweet sounds, “calm every troubled heart.” She sings a further paean to the power of music, before introducing the drama’s main protagonist, Orfeo, who “held the wild beasts spellbound with his song.”
Act 1
After La musica’s final request for silence, the curtain rises on Act 1 to reveal a pastoral scene. Orfeo and Euridice enter together with a chorus of nymphs and shepherds, who act in the manner of a Greek chorus, commenting on the action both as a group and as individuals. A shepherd announces that this is the couple’s wedding day; the chorus responds, first in a stately invocation (“Come, Hymen, O come”) and then in a joyful dance (“Leave the mountains, leave the fountains”). Orfeo and Euridice sing of their love for each other before leaving with most of the group for the wedding ceremony in the temple. Those left on stage sing a brief chorus, commenting on how Orfeo used to be one “for whom sighs were food and weeping was drink” before love brought him to a state of sublime happiness.
Act 2
Orfeo returns with the main chorus, and sings with them of the beauties of nature. Orfeo then muses on his former unhappiness, but proclaims: “After grief one is more content, after pain one is happier.” The mood of contentment is abruptly ended when La messaggera enters, bringing the news that, while gathering flowers, Euridice has received a fatal snakebite. The chorus expresses its anguish: “Ah, bitter happening, ah, impious and cruel fate!” while the Messaggera castigates herself as the bearing of bad tidings (“For ever I will flee, and in a lonely cavern lead a life in keeping with my sorrow”). Orfeo, after venting his grief and incredulity (“Thou art dead, my life, and I am breathing?”), declares his intention to descend into the Underworld and persuade its ruler to allow Euridice to return to life. Otherwise, he says, “I shall remain with thee in the company of death.” He departs, and the chorus resumes its lament.
Act 3
Orfeo is guided by Speranza to the gates of Hades. Having pointed out the words inscribed on the gate (“Abandon hope, all ye who enter here”), Speranza leaves. Orfeo is now confronted with the ferryman Caronte, who addresses Orfeo harshly and refuses to take him across the river Styx. Orfeo attempts to persuade Caronte by singing a flattering song to him (“Mighty spirit and powerful divinity”), but the ferryman is unmoved. However, when Orfeo takes up his lyre and plays, Caronte is soothed into sleep. Seizing his chance, Orfeo steals the ferryman’s boat and crosses the river, entering the Underworld while a chorus of spirits reflects that nature cannot defend herself against man: “He has tamed the sea with fragile wood, and disdained the rage of the winds.”
Act 4
In the Underworld, Proserpina, Queen of Hades, who has been deeply affected by Orfeo’s singing, petitions King Plutone, her husband, for Euridice’s release. Moved by her pleas, Plutone agrees on the condition that, as he leads Euridice towards the world, Orfeo must not look back. If he does, “a single glance will condemn him to eternal loss.” Orfeo enters, leading Euridice and singing confidently that on that day he will rest on his wife’s white bosom. But as he sings a note of doubt creeps in: “Who will assure me that she is following?” Perhaps Plutone, driven by envy, has imposed the condition through spite? Suddenly distracted by an off-stage commotion, Orfeo looks round; immediately, the image of Euridice begins to fade. She sings, despairingly: “Losest thou me through too much love?” and disappears. Orfeo attempts to follow her but is drawn away by an unseen force. The chorus of spirits sings that Orfeo, having overcome Hades, was in turn overcome by his passions.
Act 5
Back in the fields of Thrace, Orfeo has a long soliloquy in which he laments his loss, praises Euridice’s beauty and resolves that his heart will never again be pierced by Cupid’s arrow. An off-stage echo repeats his final phrases. Suddenly, in a cloud, Apollo descends from the heavens and chastises him: “Why dost thou give thyself up as prey to rage and grief?” He invites Orfeo to leave the world and join him in the heavens, where he will recognise Euridice’s likeness in the stars. Orfeo replies that it would be unworthy not to follow the counsel of such a wise father, and together they ascend. A shepherds’ chorus concludes that “he who sows in suffering shall reap the fruit of every grace,” before the opera ends with a vigorous moresca.
Original Libretto Ending
In Striggio’s 1607 libretto, Orfeo’s Act 5 soliloquy is interrupted, not by Apollo’s appearance but by a chorus of maenads or Bacchantes—wild, drunken women—who sing of the “divine fury” of their master, the god Bacchus. The cause of their wrath is Orfeo and his renunciation of women; he will not escape their heavenly anger, and the longer he evades them the more severe his fate will be. Orfeo leaves the scene and his destiny is left uncertain, for the Bacchantes devote themselves for the rest of the opera to wild singing and dancing in praise of Bacchus. Early music authority Claude Palisca believes that the two endings are not incompatible; Orfeo evades from the fury of the Bacchantes and is then rescued by Apollo.
Contributors and Attributions
- Authored by : Elliott Jones. Provided by : Santa Ana College. Located at : http://www.sac.edu . License : CC BY: Attribution
- L'Orfeo. Provided by : Wikipedia. Located at : http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Orfeo . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike


2.7: Data and Customer Rights
Learning Objectives
- Discuss customer rights regarding their personal data
As more mobile devices, social media, applications and ecommerce websites weave themselves ever tighter into customer’s lives, more information is collected, and personal information shared to improve the consumer experience. This deeper infiltration into people’s privacy and lives raises concerns about privacy and the potential for data leaks, unauthorized use of data and even malicious cyberattacks all which increase the likelihood of identity theft.
With the ever-increasing risks involved as the economy and world move forward with technology, we’ll ask three questions: What constitutes personal data when it comes to customers? What is the current state of customer rights with regards to personal data? What is being done to have more protection and customer rights in the future?
Personal Data
Personal data means any information that can identify an individual person or customer. Sometimes it is called personal information or personally identifiable information (PII). In the U.S. according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, personal data has been defined as:
any information about an individual maintained by an agency, including (1) any information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, such as name, social security number, date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, or biometric records; and (2) any other information that is linked or linkable to an individual, such as medical, educational, financial, and employment information. [1]
Additional specific examples of PII include:
- Bank account numbers
- Passport numbers
- Credit Card numbers
- Driver’s license number
This information also have the potential to be PPI because when combined they have the potential to disclose the identity of an individual.
- Full Name
- Home Address, City, State, Postcode, Country
- Telephone/Mobile number
- Age, birthdate, Gender or race
- Web cookies (cookies record actions taken on individual computers and repot back to cookie website)
As you can see, much of this type of information about individuals is disclosed daily when searching, shopping and working online. So, what kind of protections and rights do customers have when it comes to their own data? First, we’ll look at the laws surrounding protection.
Practice Question
Consumer Data Privacy Legislation and Laws
As of the start of 2020, there are no overreaching data specific federal law enacted in the U.S., but in 2018, legislation was enacted in a few U.S. states (California & Vermont) to give new rights to customers about the collection of their personal information. Those law are as follows: [2]
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California’s Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 went into effect Jan. 1, 2020 and has one of the most extensive online privacy laws in the U.S. which not only effects companies within the state’s borders, but also with any company doing business with CA residents. These consumer rights include the right to:
- Know what personal information is being collected about them.
- Know whether their personal information is sold or disclosed and to whom.
- Say no to the sale of personal information.
- Access their personal information.
- Equal service and price, even if they exercise their privacy rights.
- Vermont’s law which requires that data brokers disclose what data is being collected about individuals and allow them to opt out of data collection.
In 2019, some states introduced privacy and consumer data protection acts to the legislature and they are in various states of discussion. Those states included Maine, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Hawaii, New York, and Maryland. It is important for a business to know the current laws surrounding consumer data protection as this is in constant flux and new laws may be passed in the future.
Try It
To read a comprehensive list of each state’s legislation related to privacy and consumer data protection, follow this link to the National Conference of State Legislatures website .
European Union
Europe is taking the lead when it comes to consumer data privacy rights. In 2018, the E.U. enacted a more comprehensive consumer data privacy law called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law. The GDPR law clearly states how companies must protect personal data collected about E.U. citizens and extends its reach beyond the European boarders and encompasses any global business selling to or having EU customers. It also dictates the terms for violations of this law as fines that could cost 4 percent of a company’s global profits. A steep penality that has companies taking this law very seriously. Watch this video to gain a more comprehensive understanding of GDPR.
You can also view a transcript for the video “What is GDPR?” here (opens in new window) .
What rights is the GDPR enforcing for E.U. customers and consumers? It requires that:
- Simple language be used to explain how collected data is going to be handled by a company.
- Customers must give explicit consent to a company before it can do anything with the data.
- Customers must be given the opportunity to request copies of data held by the company.
- Customers must be given the opportunity to delete their company stored data entirely.
- Companies must report data breaches to consumers within 72 hours.
This type of overarching data rights law is being considered around the world as to what does seem to work, and how can it be improved or modified to fit specific countries or states.
Future of Customer Data Rights
Could something like the GDPR work if enacted in the U.S.? Many would like to adopt these standards but there is a long road to travel to make this fit with the U.S. economy.
Try It
The US wants to copy Europe’s strict data privacy law —but only some of it. This video walks through exploring the possibility of having GDPR go global and some of the difficulties involved with doing so.
Practice Question
What is apparent for the future, is that customer data rights are an ever-evolving issue that will need to be updated and new laws considered as new technology emerges and the consumer landscape continues to evolve.
Try It
Understand more how your personal data is being used by businesses and what the future may look like when it comes to your own data by watching this 17-minute TEDxBermuda talk given in 2015.
You can also view a transcript for the video “The Future of Your Personal Data” here (opens in new window) .
-
McCallister, Erika, Grance, Tim, Scarfone, Karen.
Guide to Protecting the Confidentiality of Personal Identifiable Information (PII)
. Special Publication 800–122. Gaithersbueg, MD: U.S. Department of Commerce, 2010. ↵
-
Nicastro, Dom. “
Examining Where 8 US States Stand on Consumer Data Privacy Laws
.” CMSWire.com, August 30, 2019. ↵
Contributors and Attributions
- Data and Customer Rights. Authored by : Sherri Pendleton. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
- What is GDPR? - Explained in 3 minutes. Authored by : Corporate Valley. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXIbbkNwBHA . License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Standard YouTube License
- The Future of Your Personal Data u2013 Privacy vs. Monetization. Authored by : Stuart Lacey. Provided by : TEDx. Located at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIo-V0beaBw . License : All Rights Reserved . License Terms : Standard YouTube License
- An act to add Title 1.81.5 (commencing with section 1798.100) to Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, relating to privacy. Provided by : California Legislature Assembly Bill No. 375. Located at : https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB375 . License : Public Domain: No Known Copyright


5.4: Personality Theory in Real Life
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Kernberg’s Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality Disorders
Otto Kernberg is one of the leading figures advocating a psychoanalytic theory of personality disorders, particularly within an object relations perspective (see Kernberg & Caligor, 2005). In important ways he has followed the model of Sigmund Freud, in that he has based much of this theory on experience psychoanalyzing patients. His theory has been developed in conjunction with the therapeutic approach that grew out of both that experience and his developing theory. Thus, Kernberg’s work represents an applied approach to the study of personality disorders.
Kernberg’s model of personality disorder emphasizes personality structures, which are derived from the interaction of constitutional (i.e., temperamental) and environmental factors during early childhood. These structures are relatively stable mental functions or processes that serve to organize an individual’s behavior and subjective experiences. Psychological structures that are conscious and observable are typically referred to as “surface” structures , whereas those that are primarily unconscious are called “deep” structures . The basic building blocks of these personality structures are internalized object relations. Internalized object relations are particular emotional states linked to a specific image of a particular relationship (e.g., anxiety linked with an image of a confused and unsure self and a critical, judgmental parent). These internal object relations are integrated and hierarchically organized into the higher-order structures that form the personality. At the core of this personality organization is the individual’s “identity.” According to Kernberg and Caligor (2005), a healthy, consolidated identity corresponds with a stable and realistic sense of self and others. In contrast, a pathological identity stems from an unstable, polarized, and unrealistic sense of self and others. This pathology arises because the emotional states of the internalized object relations are predominately negative; they are crude, intense, and poorly modulated. There is also a preponderance of aggression and defensive mechanisms based on primitive dissociation (splitting).
A normal personality, according to Kernberg, is characterized by an integrated concept of self and an integrated concept of significant others. Individuals with a normal personality can express a wide range of emotions, and even intense emotions do not lead to a loss of impulse control. Normal individuals have an integrated and mature system of internalized values, and they can appropriately manage their sexual, dependent, and aggressive motivations. The development of the normal personality depends to a large extent on the relationship the child has with its mother (the primary caregiver). If the mother is successful in helping the child transform highly emotional states into integrated experiences, then the child’s internalized object relations will be primarily positive. Erik Erikson first proposed this concept, and he believed that ego identity was not complete until adolescence (see Kernberg & Caligor, 2005).
The abnormal personality, in contrast, results from early childhood interactions with caregivers who do not help to transform highly emotional states into integrated experiences. On the contrary, caregiver’s failure to help the child integrate its emotional experiences can intensify the child’s anger and anxiety, perhaps leading to an increase in aggression. Consequently, a child who cannot integrate the good and bad aspects of its emotional states and object relations will come to depend on defense mechanisms that enhance continued splitting. The child becomes fixated at a poorly integrated level of development. One of the most important implications of this approach to personality disorders is the role that primary caregivers play. What constitutes a parent, or other caregiver, who cannot help the child to integrate its emotional states in a healthy, normal manner? Numerous studies in different countries have identified a high rate of physical and sexual abuse in patients with borderline disorders.
The level at which integration fails to occur results in the nature of the pathological personality organization. A psychotic personality organization occurs when the individual has not integrated a clear concept of self and significant others. They do not have a clear identity formation, they may not distinguish intrapsychic processes from external stimuli, and therefore there may be a lack of reality testing. According to Kernberg, psychotic personality organization represents an atypical form of psychosis (Kernberg & Caligor, 2005). Borderline personality organization is similar, but less severe. The individual has achieved a level of integration in which the self and others are seen as separate, but that integration is pathological. There is a great deal of defensive splitting, and the individual lacks a clearly developed set of internalized values (the superego). Emotion fluctuates from intense to superficial, emotion is generally negative, and there may be excessive aggression. There is also a lack of integration of the sense of others, making relationships particularly unstable and unrealistic. Curiously, achieving an integrated sense of self and others does not resolve all psychological problems associated with personality development. Even if an individual has moved beyond the stages of psychotic and borderline personality development, and developed an integrated sense of self and others, they may still be prone to neurotic personality organization. At this level, defenses are based primarily on repression and stable reality testing. This is the level at which Sigmund Freud studied personality and psychological disorders, according to Kernberg (2004).
With this perspective in mind, how then do we treat individuals with personality disorders? Kernberg’s primary focus is an exploration of the patient’s internal object relations. These pathological internal object relations play out in the patient’s current interpersonal relationships, and through the process of transference they play out in the therapeutic relationship as well. In patients with neurotic personality disorganization these transferences are relatively stable and understandable within a psychoanalytic context. With more severe personality organizations, the transferences are poorly organized, unstable, unrealistic, and the activation of the internal object relations can be immediate and chaotic. There is also a rapid interchange between the roles played by the patient with regard to which object of an internal object relation they identify with, and, accordingly, which object they attribute as the analyst. With severe borderline patients special attention must always be paid to the strong tendency toward acting out, which can lead to suicide attempts, drug abuse, self-mutilation, and other aggressive behavior (Kernberg & Caligor, 2005).
Therapy with these patients is a long and difficult task. In order for psychoanalysis to be successful, it may require multiple sessions each week for 4 to 6 years. This is necessary because the goal is no less ambitious than modifying personality organization and the quality of the patient’s internal object relations, all of which were laid down during the formative years of infancy and early childhood (Kernberg & Caligor, 2005). Within the context of this theory, the outcome for individuals with a neurotic personality organization is hopeful, whereas the outcome for those with a borderline personality organization remains challenging. Kernberg and Caligor (2005) do not propose an approach to the treatment of patients with a psychotic personality organization. Therefore, continued research and clinical application will be necessary if we hope to be able to treat all patients suffering from personality disorders.


5.1: Getting Started
Getting Started in the US of A
So you’ve got a great new idea and want to put it into action? Here’s some good news to get you started: a combination of unique characteristics make the United States an ideal place for innovators and entrepreneurs to launch their ventures. The advantages reach a spectrum of business models, so no matter what your ambitions, you’re starting out in a great place.
Risk is rewarded
The United States’ business environment fosters and nurtures the growth of new businesses. Many elements of this environment are encouraging to entrepreneurs like you who are considering starting a company.
For example, legal structures in the US provide a range of options for different sizes and types of businesses, allowing their owners to take on varying levels of liability. This flexibility also creates a distinction between the individual and the corporation, further encouraging you to take business risks without fear of getting into too much serious trouble. Unless you do something illegal, or fail to make payroll taxes, you as an individual will not be held personally liable for the failure of a business.
And it’s not just US laws that reward you for taking risks. Our culture and society also reward the adventurous entrepreneur. We see it as acceptable, even courageous, to give a new venture your best shot and make lots of beginner’s mistakes, even if your business fails because of it.
The entrepreneur-friendly culture of the US tells us that making mistakes is just part of the process, and that success is all about taking the risk, and learning from your mistakes.
It’s who you know
US business culture puts a heavy emphasis on networking—making interpersonal connections and using them to your advantage. As we’ve already said, getting to know people in your field and beyond can help you immeasurably; in fact, you can’t get far without that kind of help. Establishing a relationship with a mentor can help you avoid some painful and damaging mistakes. Additionally, a person with an established reputation can open doors for you. Take every opportunity to get to know people who might have the tools to help you out.
Calculated debt is OK...mostly
Unlike many countries around the world, US culture approves the decision to borrow money to fund a new business. Getting a loan is okay, and being in debt is just fine. A few stories circulate about successful companies that launch themselves entirely on credit card debt (which, as you hopefully know, is about the worst loan deal around). Some credit card companies are even setting up special plans and incentives for the small business owner, further propagating the notion that debt carries no shame.
Of course, we hear a lot less about the failures in this approach, which are proportionally much, much greater. Be very careful about personally guaranteeing any kind of loan. You could be personally obligated for a long time to come. And remember: use full disclosure when you get any kind of financing. You don’t want to get money based on false pretenses, no matter how desperate you or your company are at the time.
Your team is ultimately responsible for the business decisions you make, for borrowing wisely, and for doing what it takes to help your company succeed. Every decision you make along the way has risks and consequences.
A rich history of failure
Many of America’s most successful businessmen failed in early business endeavors at least once, including ketchup magnate John Henry Heinz, Henry Ford of Ford Motor Company, and Phineas Barnum, founder of the American circus. All of them eventually became very rich, in part because they were given a chance to try a business, fail, and start over.
The philosophy behind this tolerant regulatory structure is to encourage people to create businesses, with the hope that they will succeed, hire employees, pay taxes, and improve the economy as a whole. These ideas are not new. As a society, Americans have always encouraged economic activity through the extensive use of credit. As early as the 1700s, when the US economy was competing with much more developed European economies, it grew faster than anyone could have imagined, partly through extensive use of credit, with some people being paid for goods and supplies months and even years after the credit was granted. This allowed people to start businesses without much money in their pockets. The availability of credit caused economic activity to soar, and a strong credit-based economy was born. 1
1. From usinfo.state.gov/journals/ites/0106/ijee/martin.htm
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A kinder, gentler bankruptcy
There are two main types of bankruptcy for businesses. Some can stay in business under Chapter 11 while they reorganize their debts. Thus, unlike most bankruptcy systems around the world, US laws allow a bankrupt company to continue in operation, with the same management, while it tries to restructure its debts. In other words, typically, no trustee or custodian is appointed. Some people think this system, known as a debtor-in-possession system, promotes economic and job growth because more companies remain in business and their assets are protected. Businesses can also simply liquidate their assets under Chapter 7 and use the sale proceeds to pay creditors. From usinfo.state.gov/journals/ites/0106/ijee/martin.htm
One confident risk-taker
“We did not have any capital or a business plan. We did not have a marketing strategy. We did not have one damn thing. All I did was get on the phone and convince people that we were going to be a huge beverage company one day so why don’t you sell me the resources I need. Give two guys that have absolutely no credit, the credit to buy 200,000 cases of glass—and I did it. Nobody in their right mind would think they could do that.” Tom First, Co-founder of Nantucket Nectars. From “Keynote Entrepreneurs – Nantucket Nectars,” http://www.benlore.com .
The entrepreneurial passion
I started the magazine because I had a passion for what I was doing. That’s also why I went into the airline business, even though everybody I talked to told me that there was no money to be made there. I felt that I could make a difference. That’s the best reason to go into business—because you feel strongly that you can change things.” Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group. From “Training to Work: Unit of One,” by Jill Rosenfeld. Fast Company, August, 2000. |


1.5: Understanding Operations Management
Important Concepts in Operations Management
Within this next section, you will be challenged to consider your understanding of the concepts related to operations management that you have learned about so far. Pay close attention to Activity 1 and Activity 2 within the reading. Each will help you gauge your level of understanding of the operation of a business and the role of an operations manager.
Operations, Operations Management, and Operations Managers
Operations management is concerned with the design, management, and improvement of the systems that create the organization’s goods or services. The majority of most organizations’ financial and human resources are invested in the activities involved in making products or delivering services. Operations management is therefore critical to organizational success.
Activity 1For each of the following businesses, identify the main output of the operation:
DiscussionYou probably found it quite easy to identify the main output of a brewery as beer, and of a publisher as books or newspapers. However, the others are a bit trickier: a satisfied customer (hotel) and a customer bearing less financial risk (insurance company). Operations management deals with producing not only physical goods, but also satisfied customers. An understanding of the principles of operations management is important for all managers, because they provide a systematic way of looking at an organization’s processes. The need to manage manufacturing and service operations efficiently and effectively has led to a considerable increase in interest in operations management in recent years. However, the concept of operations is not new. |
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Historical Development of Operations Management
Operations in some form have been around as long as human endeavor itself but, in manufacturing at least, it has changed dramatically over time, and there are three major phases - craft manufacturing, mass production and the modern period. Let's look at each of these briefly in turn.
Craft Manufacturing
Craft manufacturing describes the process by which skilled craftspeople produce goods in low volume, with a high degree of variety, to meet the requirements of their individual customers. Over the centuries, skills have been transmitted from masters to apprentices and journeymen, and controlled by guilds. Craftspeople usually worked at home or in small workshops. Such a system worked well for small-scale local production, with low levels of competition. Some industries, such as furniture manufacture and clockmaking, still include a significant proportion of craft working.
Mass Production
In many industries, craft manufacturing began to be replaced by mass production in the 19th century. Mass production involves producing goods in high volume with low variety – the opposite of craft manufacturing. Customers are expected to buy what is supplied, rather than goods made to their own specifications. Producers concentrated on keeping costs, and hence prices, down by minimizing the variety of both components and products and setting up large production runs. They developed aggressive advertising and employed sales forces to market their products.
An important innovation in operations that made mass production possible was the system of standardized and interchangeable parts known as the ‘American system of manufacture’ (Hounshell, 1984), which developed in the United States and spread to the United Kingdom and other countries. Instead of being produced for a specific machine or piece of equipment, parts were made to a standard design that could be used in different models. This greatly reduced the amount of work required in cutting, filing and fitting individual parts, and meant that people or companies could specialize in particular parts of the production process.
A second innovation was the development by Frederick Taylor (1911) of the system of 'scientific management’, which sought to redesign jobs using similar principles to those used in designing machines. Taylor argued that the role of management was to analyze jobs in order to find the ‘one best way’ of performing any task or sequence of tasks, rather than allowing workers to determine how to perform their jobs. By breaking down activities into tasks that were sequential, logical and easy to understand, each worker would have narrowly defined and repetitious tasks to perform, at high speed and therefore with low costs (Kanigel, 1999).
A third innovation was the development of the moving assembly line by Henry Ford. Instead of workers bringing all the parts and tools to a fixed location where one car was put together at a time, the assembly line brought the cars to the workers. Ford thus extended the ideas of scientific management, with the assembly line controlling the pace of production. This completed the development of a system through which large volumes of standardized products could be assembled by unskilled workers at constantly decreasing costs – the apogee of mass production.
The Modern Period
Mass production worked well as long as high volumes of mass-produced goods could be produced and sold in predictable and slowly changing markets. However, during the 1970s, markets became highly fragmented, product life cycles reduced dramatically, and consumers had far greater choice than ever before.
An unforeseen challenge to Western manufacturers emerged from Japan. New Japanese production techniques, such as total quality management (TQM), just-in-time (JIT) and employee involvement were emulated elsewhere in the developed world, with mixed results. More recently, the mass production paradigm has been replaced, but there is as yet no single approach to managing operations that has become similarly dominant. The different approaches for managing operations that are currently popular include:
- Flexible specialisation (Piore and Sabel, 1984) in which firms (especially small firms) focus on separate parts of the value-adding process and collaborate within networks to produce whole products. Such an approach requires highly developed networks, effective processes for collaboration and the development of long-term relationships between firms.
- Lean production (Womack et al., 1990) which developed from the highly successful Toyota Production System. It focuses on the elimination of all forms of waste from a production system. A focus on driving inventory levels down also exposes inefficiencies, reduces costs, and cuts lead times.
- Mass customisation (Pine et al., 1993) which seeks to combine high volume, as in mass production, with adapting products to meet the requirements of individual customers. Mass customisation is becoming increasingly feasible with the advent of new technology and automated processes.
- Agile manufacturing (Kidd, 1994) which emphasizes the need for an organization to be able to switch frequently from one market-driven objective to another. Again, agile manufacturing has only become feasible on a large scale with the advent of enabling technology.
In various ways, these approaches all seek to combine the high volume and low cost associated with mass production with the product customisation, high levels of innovation and high levels of quality associated with craft production.
The Role of the Operations Manager
Some people (especially those professionally involved in operations management!) argue that operations management involves everything an organization does. In this sense, every manager is an operations manager, since all managers are responsible for contributing to the activities required to create and deliver an organization’s goods or services. However, others argue that this definition is too wide, and that the operations function is about producing the right amount of a good or service, at the right time, of the right quality and at the right cost to meet customer requirements.
Activity 2What do you think a typical operations manager does? Take a minute or so to consider. DiscussionA stereotypical example of an operations manager would be a plant manager in charge of a factory, such as an automobile assembly plant. But other managers who work in the factory – quality managers, production and inventory control managers, and line supervisors – can also be considered to be working in operations management. In service industries, managers in hotels, restaurants, banks and stores are operations managers. In the not-for-profit sector, the manager of a nursing home or day centre for older people is an operations manager, as is the manager of a local government tax-collection office and the manager of a charity shop staffed entirely by volunteers. So, operations managers are responsible for managing activities that are part of the production of goods and services. Their direct responsibilities include managing both the operations process, embracing design, planning, control, performance improvement, and operations strategy. Their indirect responsibilities include interacting with those managers in other functional areas within the organization whose roles have an impact on operations. Such areas include marketing, finance, accounting, personnel and engineering. Operations managers' responsibilities include:
Decision making is a central role of all operations managers. Decisions need to be made in:
The five main kinds of decision in each of these relate to:
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14.3A: Sympathetic Responses
The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system maintains internal organ homeostasis and initiates the stress response.
- Describe the sympathetic responses of the autonomic nervous system
Key Points
- The fibers from the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) innervate the tissues in almost every organ system.
- The SNS is best known for mediating the neuronal and hormonal response to stress known as the fight-or-flight response, also known as sympatho-adrenal response.
- The catecholamine hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline are secreted by the adrenal medulla and facilitate physical activity and mobilize the body to respond to threatening environments.
- The primary neurotransmitter of SNS postganglionic fibers is noradrenaline, also called norepinephrine.
Key Terms
- sympathetic nervous system (SNS) : One of the three parts of the autonomic nervous system, along with the enteric and parasympathetic systems. Its general action is to mobilize the body’s nervous system fight-or-flight response; it is also constantly active at a basal level to maintain homeostasis.
- sympatho-adrenal response : Also called the fight-or-flight response, this activates the secretion of adrenaline (epinephrine) and, to a lesser extent, noradrenaline (norepinephrine).
- stress response : This halts or slows down various processes, such as sexual responses and digestive systems, to focus on the stressor situation; this usually causes negative effects like constipation, anorexia, difficulty urinating, and difficulty maintaining sexual arousal.
EXAMPLES
Physiological changes induced by the sympathetic nervous system include accelerating the heart rate, widening bronchial passages, decreasing motility of the large intestine, dilating the pupils, and causing perspiration.
Sympathetic Nervous System Physiology
Alongside the other two components of the autonomic nervous system, the sympathetic nervous system aids in the control of most of the body’s internal organs. Stress—as in the hyperarousal of the flight-or-fight response—is thought to counteract the parasympathetic system, which generally works to promote maintenance of the body at rest.
Sympathetic nervous system : The sympathetic nervous system extends from the thoracic to lumbar vertebrae and has connections with the thoracic, abdominal aortic, and pelvic plexuses.
The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for regulating many homeostatic mechanisms in living organisms. Fibers from the SNS innervate tissues in almost every organ system and provide physiological regulation over diverse body processes including pupil diameter, gut motility (movement), and urinary output.
The SNS is perhaps best known for mediating the neuronal and hormonal stress response commonly known as the fight-or-flight response, also known as sympatho-adrenal response of the body. This occurs as the preganglionic sympathetic fibers that end in the adrenal medulla secrete acetylcholine, which activates the secretion of adrenaline (epinephrine), and to a lesser extent noradrenaline (norepinephrine).
Therefore, this response is mediated directly via impulses transmitted through the sympathetic nervous system, and also indirectly via catecholamines that are secreted from the adrenal medulla, and acts primarily on the cardiovascular system.
Messages travel through the SNS in a bidirectional flow. Efferent messages can trigger simultaneous changes in different parts of the body.
For example, the sympathetic nervous system can accelerate heart rate, widen bronchial passages, decrease motility of the large intestine, constrict blood vessels, increase peristalsis in the esophagus, cause pupillary dilation, piloerection (goose bumps) and perspiration (sweating), and raise blood pressure.
Afferent messages carry sensations such as heat, cold, or pain. Some evolutionary theorists suggest that the sympathetic nervous system operated in early organisms to maintain survival since the sympathetic nervous system is responsible for priming the body for action. One example of this priming is in the moments before waking, in which sympathetic outflow spontaneously increases in preparation for activity.
The Fight-or-Flight Response
The fight-or-flight response was first described by Walter Bradford Cannon. His theory states that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, priming the animal for fighting or fleeing. This response was later recognized as the first stage of a general adaptation syndrome that regulates stress responses among vertebrates and other organisms.
Catecholamine hormones, such as adrenaline or noradrenaline, facilitate the immediate physical reactions associated with a preparation for violent muscular action. These include the following:
- Acceleration of heart and lung action.
- Paling or flushing, or alternating between both.
- Inhibition of stomach and upper-intestinal action to the point where digestion slows down or stops.
- General effect on the sphincters of the body.
- Constriction of blood vessels in many parts of the body.
- Liberation of nutrients (particularly fat and glucose) for muscular action.
- Dilation of blood vessels for muscles.
- Inhibition of the lacrimal gland (responsible for tear production) and salivation.
- Dilation of pupil (mydriasis).
- Relaxation of bladder.
- Inhibition of erection.
- Auditory exclusion (loss of hearing).
- Tunnel vision (loss of peripheral vision).
- Disinhibition of spinal reflexes; and shaking.
In prehistoric times, the human fight-or-flight response manifested fight as aggressive, combative behavior and flight as fleeing potentially threatening situations, such as being confronted by a predator.
In current times, these responses persist, but fight-and-flight responses have assumed a wider range of behaviors. For example, the fight response may be manifested in angry, argumentative behavior, and the flight response may be manifested through social withdrawal, substance abuse, and even television viewing.
Males and females tend to deal with stressful situations differently. Males are more likely to respond to an emergency situation with aggression (fight), while females are more likely to flee (flight), turn to others for help, or attempt to defuse the situation (tend and befriend). During stressful times, a mother is especially likely to show protective responses toward her offspring and affiliate with others for shared social responses to threats.