Does Immediate Arousal Enhance Response Force in Simple Reaction Time?
Open Access
- 1 November 1996
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A
- Vol. 49 (4), 972-990
- https://doi.org/10.1080/713755672
Abstract
Three experiments assessed the hypothesis that immediate arousal enhances response force in speeded reaction-time tasks. Immediate arousal was manipulated via the physical characteristics of a warning signal that closely preceded the imperative response signal. The first experiment revealed that responses were more forceful and faster for a loud than for a soft warning signal. The second experiment manipulated the duration of an auditory warning signal; more forceful but slower responses were obtained for longer durations of the warning signal. The third experiment employed a visual warning signal, and its intensity was either rather weak or moderately bright; more forceful responses and slightly faster responses were observed for the brighter warning signal. Although the results of Experiment 1 and 2 may agree with an arousal account, the findings of Experiment 3 argue against such an account. A stimulus-response compatibility hypothesis is suggested as one possible alternative account.Keywords
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