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Energetics and Human Information Processing pp 91–111Cite as

The Orienting Response; A Combination of Informational and Energetical Aspects of Brain Function

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Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASID,volume 31))

Abstract

The orienting response (OR) or orienting reflex continues to be one of the most central concepts of psychophysiology. In a way, this concept has become even too popular. It has grown too broad to serve as a very useful conceptual tool in our research efforts. Let us therefore go back to examine what the famous Russian neurophysiologist Ivan Pavlov really meant when he described the phenomenon which is known to us as the OR. Pavlov associated it with very early processing of stimulus or stimulus change — a processing phase at which the exact nature of the event is not yet clear, but the organism is alarmed to process that event as fast and efficiently as possible. Pavlov linked the concept to the early stage of acquisition of stimulus information (in fact he used the terms “investigating reaction” or the “what-is-it” reaction).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Helsinki, Finland

    Risto Näätänen

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  1. Risto Näätänen
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Research Council (MRC)/ESRC Social and Applied Psychology Unit, Dept of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK

    G. Robert J. Hockey

  2. Institute for Perception TNO, Kampweg 5, PO Box 23, 3769, Soesterberg, The Netherlands

    Anthony W. K. Gaillard

  3. Cognitive Psychophysiology Laboratory Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 603 East Daniel St, Champaign, Illinois, 61820, USA

    Michael G. H. Coles

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© 1986 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht

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Näätänen, R. (1986). The Orienting Response; A Combination of Informational and Energetical Aspects of Brain Function. In: Hockey, G.R.J., Gaillard, A.W.K., Coles, M.G.H. (eds) Energetics and Human Information Processing. NATO ASI Series, vol 31. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4448-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4448-0_6

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