Startle/Flinch, Hick\'s Law, Flexor Extensor

Startle/flinch, Hick's Law, Flexor Extensor Muscles

The Startle Flinch Response-

The startle or flinch response is present in infants and as an individual ages, and consists of a collection of physiological responses to a sudden stimulus, usually a loud noise. The complex includes, increased eye blink, increased heart rate, skin conductance and several other muscle responses, in infancy sudden extension of limbs is seen.

The startle response refers to a complex of bodily reactions to a strong, rapid and unexpected stimulus. Woodworth and Schlosberg (1954) state that the most effective and convenient stimulus used to elicit a startle reflex in the 1930s was a pistol shot (a.22 caliber blank cartridge) fired closely behind someone's head! The physiological changes produced by this type of stimulus included increases in eye blink (EB), heart rate, skin conductance, and a wide variety of muscular responses. (Andreassi, 2000, p. 249)

Hick's Law-

The hick's laws states that the rate at which and individual processes a signal is a linear and increasing function of formation of stimulus and as stimulus increases the length of reaction time increases, to a specific point where it then becomes fixed and is constant.

W.E. Hick (1952) formulated this principle, which states that the rate of processing a signal is a linear increasing function of stimulus information (e.g., reaction time increases as a linear function of stimulus uncertainty), or that the rate of gain of information is a constant. (Roeckelein, 1998, p. 237)

Flexor and Extensor Muscles-