Complexity and incongruity in habituation of GSR, investigation, and preference

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION Although the last fifteen years have seen a considerable increase of interest in (1) exploratory and investigatory behavior and (2) psychological arousal, there are little data relating these two topics directly. This study attempts to show such a relationship. The orientation react ion is a pattern or skeletal, sensory, autonomic and central nervous system responses which is frequently elicited by a single sudden change along any one of a variety of dimensions of stimulation. It is often interpreted as serving to increase readiness to act by directing attention toward specific environmental changes, and can be assumed to entail a rise in arousal [TRUNCATED]