The document defines arousal as an organism's overall state of alertness and readiness for action. It explains that arousal is regulated by the sympathetic nervous system, which prepares the body for quick action during threats by increasing heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, and sweat gland activity. The document evaluates the use of polygraphs to measure physiological changes associated with arousal and their limitation as a lie detector, which assumes lying produces increased arousal that can be detected by comparing responses to control and relevant questions.