A synthetic heptaphosphopeptide comprising the fully phosphorylated carboxyl terminal phosphorylation region of bovine rhodopsin, residues 330–348, was found to induce a conformational change in bovine arrestin. This caused an alteration of the pattern of limited proteolysis of arrestin similar to that induced by binding phosphorylated rhodopsin or heparin. Unlike heparin, the phosphopeptide also induced light‐activated binding of arrestin to both unphosphorylated rhodopsin in disk membranes as well as to endoproteinase Asp‐N‐treated rhodopsin (des 330–348). These findings suggest that one function of phosphorylation of rhodopsin is to activate arrestin which can then bind to other regions of the surface of the photoactivated rhodopsin.