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In psychology, habituation is an example of non-associative learning in which there is a progressive diminution of behavioral response probability with repetition of a stimulus. It is another form of integration. An animal first responds to a stimulus, but if it is neither rewarding nor harmful the animal reduces subsequent responses. One example of this can be seen in small song birds - if a stuffed owl (or similar predator) is put into the cage, the birds initially react to it as though it were a real predator. Soon the birds react less, showing habituation. If another stuffed owl is introduced (or the same one removed and re-introduced), the birds react to it as though it were a predator, showing that it is only a very specific stimulus that is habituated to (namely, one particular unmoving owl in one place). Habituation has been shown in essentially every species of animal, including the large protozoan Stentor coeruleus. ^[1]

Habituation need not be conscious - for example, a short time after we get dressed, the stimulus clothes creates disappears from our nervous systems and we become unaware of it. In this way, habituation is used to ignore any continual stimulus, presumably because changes in stimulus level are normally far more important than absolute levels of stimulation. This sort of habituation can occur through neural adaptation in sensory nerves themselves and through negative feedback from the brain to peripheral sensory organs.

The learning underlying habitaution is a fundamental or basic process of biological systems and does not require conscious motivation or awareness to occur. Indeed, without habituation we would be unable to distinguish meaningful information from the background, unchanging information.

Habituation is stimulus specific. It does not cause a general decline in responsiveness. It functions like an average weighted history wavelet interference filter reducing the responsiveness of the organism to a particular stimulus. Frequently one can see opponent processes after the stimulus is removed.

Habituation is connected to associational reciprocal inhibition phenomena, opponent processes, motion aftereffects, color constancy, size constancy, and negative afterimages.

Habituation is frequently used in testing psychological phenomena. Both infants and adults look less and less at a particular stimulus the longer it is presented. The amount of time spent looking at a new stimulus after habituation to the initial stimulus indicates the effective similarity of the two stimuli. It is also used to discover the resolution of perceptual systems. For example, by habituating someone to one stimulus, and then observing responses to similar ones, one can detect the smallest degree of difference that is detectable.

Habituation is also commonly found in the case of odors. For example, one may not be able to smell one's own bad breath while being able to smell another's.

Dishabituation is when a second stimulus is used, which briefly increases habituated response, it has been shown that this is a different mechanism from sensitization.

Contents 1 See also 2 References & Bibliography 3 Key texts 3.1 Books 3.2 Papers 4 Additional material 4.1 Books 4.2 Papers 5 External links

[edit] See also

• Banner blindness
• Dishabituation
• Educational technology
• Neural adaptation
• Sensitization
• Topics in human-computer interaction
• Usability testing

[edit] References & Bibliography

[edit] Key texts

[edit] Books

[edit] Papers

[edit] Additional material

[edit] Books

[edit] Papers

• Google Scholar

• Agin, V., Chichery, R., Dickel, L., & Chichery, M.P. (2006). The "prawn-in-the-tube" procedure in the cuttlefish: Habituation or passive avoidence learning? Learning & Memory, 13, 97-101. Full text

• Kaplan, P.S., Goldstein, M.H., Huckeby, E.R., & Cooper, R.P. (1995). Habituation, sensitization, and infants' responses to motherese speech. Developmental Psychobiology, 28, 45-57. Full text

• McSweeney, F.K., Hinson, J.M, & Cannon, C.B. (1996). Sensitization-habituation may occur during operant conditioning. Psychological Bulletin, 120, 256-271. Full text

[edit] External links

• Definition at UsabilityFirst

Learning
Types of learning
Avoidance conditioning | Classical conditioning | Discrimination learning | Escape conditioning | Incidental learning | Latent learning | Mnemonic learning | Nonassociative learning | Observational learning |Omission training | Operant conditioning | Place conditioning | Punishment |Second-order conditioning | Sidman avoidance conditioning | Social learning theory | State-dependent learning | Trial and error learning |
Concepts in learning theory
Chaining | Conditioned responses | Conditioned stimulus | Conditioned suppression | Counterconditioning | Covert conditioning | Delay reduction hypothesis | Discriminative response | Distributed practice |Extinction | Fast mapping | Habituation | Implicit repetition | Interstimulus interval | Intermittent reinforcement | Latent inhibition | Learning schedules | Learning strategies |Massed practice | Modelling | Practice | Premack principle | Preconditioning | Primary reinforcement | Response | Reinforcement | Secondary reinforcement | Sensitization | Shaping | Stimulus | Reinforcement schedule | Spontaneous recovery | Transfer of learning | Unconditioned responses |Unconditioned stimulus |
Neuroanatomy of learning
[[]] |
Neurochemistry of learning
Adenylyl cyclase  |
Learning in clinical settings
Behaviour therapy | Behaviour modification | CBT | Desensitization |Exposure Therapy | Exposure and response prevention | Flooding | Graded practice | Habituation |Learning difficulties&Shaping | Time out | Systematic desensitization | Task analysis |
Learning in education
Constructionist learning | Learning Management | Learning styles | Learning theory (education) | Study habits |
Machine learning
Temporal difference learning | [[]] |
Philosophical context of learning theory
Behaviourism | Connectionism | Constructivism | Functionalism | Logical positivism |Radical behaviourism |
Prominant workers in Learning Theory|-
Pavlov | Hull | Tolman  | Skinner | Bandura | Thorndike  | Skinner |Watson
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This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Habituation. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.