Activation of the central nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, and the muscles and glands is known as what?

• A. Arousal
• B. Valence
• C. Polygraph
• D. Facial Feedback

Answer: (A)

Arousal is the body’s general level of activation or alertness, involving the brain and nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, and the muscles and glands. It’s what you feel as you shift from calm to energized, tense, or excited, and it underlies how strongly you respond to situations. This isn’t about whether an emotion is positive or negative—that’s valence. It’s about how “activated” your body is in the moment. Tools like a polygraph measure arousal but don’t name the state itself, and facial feedback refers to how facial expressions can influence feelings, not to the broad physical activation described here. So the term that best fits this description is arousal.