Applied Research and the Orienting Reflex: A Few Proposals

The orienting reaction (OR) may be such an unifying functional unit, and this chapter discusses some outlines for how such a cooperation and division of labor between basic and applied research could be carried out. Space precludes a complete review of stimulus effects, including time variables, on the OR and its habituation, but a few issues are mentioned that are important for applied as well as for basic research, although for different reasons. Assuming that the magnitude of the OR is a function of stimulus change per time unit, a triangular intensity distribution could cause a smaller OR than a rectangular distribution, although the former might have a higher peak level. The usefulness of the OR approach in applied settings will be judged partly by what emerges from studies on the simultaneous effects, aftereffects, and long-term effects of the OR on other response systems and ultimately on behavior.