Abstract
Fifty-six students in each of two groups heard an innocuous tone of constant interstimulus interval (ISI) repeatedly presented. Half the students were instructed to sit quietly and listen, whereas for half the students the tone was a signal in a reaction time experiment. The GSR was recorded continuously throughout the experiment. Following training with a constant ISI, the tone was presented in a temporal generalization test series with shorter and longer ISIs. Response speed manifested a symmetrical gradient of generalization on all generalization test series. The greater the change in ISI, the slower the response speed. On the first temporal generalization test, the GSR induced by the signal stimuli showed a symmetrical gradient, whereas generalization to nonsignificant stimuli was asymmetrical, with only longer ISIs showing increased GSR responsivity. Temporal generalization to the significant stimuli also developed an asymmetry after repeated training and generalization test series. These results suggest that the effects of novelty are at least in part dependent for their appearance upon the significance of the stimuli involved.
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This study was made possible in part by funds provided by U.S. Public Health Service Research Grant MH 04634 and by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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Maltzman, I., Langdon, B. Novelty and significance as determiners of the GSR index of the orienting reflex. Psychobiology 10, 229–234 (1982). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03332941
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03332941