p.31 The arousal "spike" caused by the presentation of unexpected
stimuli is called the orienting reflex. Specifically, the orienting reflex triggers in response to changes in stimulus
quality and intensity, and it extinguishes as the same stimulus is presented repeatedly (Mehrabian, 1995)... In summary, the
critical contribution from information theory is that arousal is a reaction to the information rate of
stimuli, and not necessarily their content.
p.52 Attention represents a complex cognitive process responsible
for "(a) orienting to sensory events; (b) detecting signals for focal (conscious) processing, and (c) maintaining a vigilant
or alert state" (Posner & Peterson, 1990: 26). Attention can be focused consciously or unconsciously, and an
executive control mechanism resolves conflicting demands on attention allocation and response tendencies (Posner & Peterson,
1990).
p.71 Siddle and Mangan (1971) showed that distractibility was correlated
with initial amplitude of the orienting response, slower speed of habituation, and neuroticism.
