Differential effects of two types of aversive arousal on discriminability

The effects of two types of aversive arousal, white noise and electric shock, upon discriminability was investigated in two studies using information analysis. Results indicated that while discriminability was affected in both studies as a function of arousal, there was a differential effect in the unreliability component of Ss’ responses. White noise increased the unreliability of responding while shock tended to decrease the unreliability. These differences are discussed in terms of drive and attention properties of the two forms of arousal.