Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
This is a knowledge-based question asking to identify the scientist who first described the "fight-or-flight" response. This response is an acute stress response, a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
(C) Walter Cannon: In the 1920s, American physiologist Walter Cannon was the first to describe the fight-or-flight response. He recognized that upon perceiving a threat, the sympathetic nervous system is activated, releasing hormones (like adrenaline) that prepare the body to either confront the threat (fight) or escape from it (flight).
(A) Alfred Binet was a pioneer in intelligence testing.
(B) Hans Selye is famous for his work on chronic stress and the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), which describes the body's response over a longer period of stress.
Step 3: Final Answer:
The 'Fight or flight response' was propounded by Walter Cannon.