The Orienting Response

Abstract

The orienting response (OR) is a fundamental component of classical conditioning. For Pavlov it provided a means of determining whether a stimulus could serve as a CR. The OR eventually became the focus of much interest in its own right, as it reflected the animal’s initial overt reaction to a new, soon-to-be-conditioned stimulus. Because stimuli with little inherent salience elicit an OR before conditioning, Pavlov referred to the OR as a “what is it” reflex. The OR signals an observable attentional reaction before learning. For this reason, it has been of great interest to attentional researchers and is considered here in greater depth.