Two concurrent measures of the evoked startle response, the elicited b
link reflex and the event-related potential, were measured while indiv
iduals viewed pictures that varied in pleasure and arousal. Replicatin
g previous findings, the blink response was modulated by picture pleas
antness, with larger reflexes elicited in the context of viewing unple
asant versus pleasant pictures. However, the probe P3 was primarily mo
dulated by picture arousal, with smaller P3 responses elicited when vi
ewing affective (pleasant or unpleasant) than when viewing neutral pic
tures. Both modulatory effects were sustained for probes presented in
a subsequent picture imagery period. These data suggest that two measu
rable responses to the same startle probe are differentially modified
by emotional context, with blink magnitude varying with pleasure and p
robe P3 varying with stimulus arousal.