In order to test whether stimulation-seeking behavior is related to arousal level, Ss were divided on the basis of both a questionnaire measure, the Taylor MAS, and an arousal-producing task into high- and low-arousal groups. The frequency with which they pressed a telegraph key to turn speech noise either on or off was the dependent variable. There were no differences between the high- and low-arousal groups in the number of times they turned noise either on or off. This result was interpreted as not supporting the idea that stimulation-seeking behavior is an attempt to maintain an optimal level of arousal.
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