Novelty and Significance Effects in the Fractionation of Phasic OR Measures: A Synthesis with Traditional OR Theory

The unitary Orienting Response (OR) concept developed by E.N. Sokolov has been interpreted as requiring the covariation of a range of physiological indicators in response to manipulation of stimulus intensity, novelty and significance. After failing to find such a covariation, Barry (1979) proposed a four‐way fractionation of response indicators as an alternative to unitary OR theory. This fractionation was explored here in two experiments involving manipulation of novelty and significance. These confirmed the predicted fractionation and clarified the role of electrodermal responses relative to traditional OR theory. It was then proposed that this fractionation of responses reflected preliminary processes in OR elicitation, allowing a synthesis of Barry's response fractionation and Sokolov's traditional OR. The possible role of Maltzman's cortical set theory’ in such a synthesis was outlined.