Psychology of Habituation and Sensitization

Habituation

Getting used to a stimulus, ending up ignoring it

Factors affecting habituation

Weak stimulus and longer-lasting for spaced repetition, faster for massed

Homosynaptic

Involving the same kinds of neurons

Sensitization

Response to strong or noxious stimuli, being highly aroused

Dishabituation

Reacting to something new or a change after habituation

Hippocampus

Responsible for new and autobiographical memories

Basal Ganglia

Involved in learning new skills

Thalamus

Sensory hub where all sense info is processed

Amygdala

Responsible for emotional memory

Problems with Ritalin

Potential addiction due to dopamine excess in non-ADHD individuals

Dual Process Theory

Explains habituation and sensitization; weak habituates, strong sensitizes

Law of Effect

Rewarded behavior is likely to reoccur

Aplysia Habituation

Withdrawal effect triggering glutamate to stop withdrawal

Single-blind

Participants don't know which treatment they will receive

Double-blind

Researcher and participants don't know the treatment

Sensory prosthetic

Tech aiding sensory deficits like cochlear implants

Factors influencing forgetting

Sleep, attention, interference from learning elsewhere

Distributed representation information storage

Pattern of activation among nodes for information storage

Natural Selection

Survival based on skills, features, or genetics

Single-cell recording

Study of neurons on an individual level

Ebbinghaus' forgetting/retention curve

Retention across time, more with short breaks between learning and relearning

Occipital damage results

Interference with vision or balance based on damage location

Extinction process

Gradual weakening and eventual cessation of a learned response

Primary sensory cortices

Processing hub for sensory information from the thalamus

Neuron retuning

Neurons adjusting sensitivity to stimuli, even in adults

Latent learning

Unconscious learning until the knowledge is needed

Empiricism

Focus on experience and environment, visible data

Nativism

Belief in inherent actions, everything being inborn

Behaviorism

Study of observable behavior

Cognitive

Focus on thoughts and mental processes

Place Cell

Neuron activated in response to a specific location

Place field

Preferred location for a neuron's activation

Cortical plasticity

Ability to change in response to experience

Perceptual Learning

Discerning subtle differences, e.g., in a blind taste test

David Rumelhart-connectionist model

Model proposed by David Rumelhart for information processing

PTSD

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Animal virtual reality-classical conditioning

Using virtual reality to induce classical conditioning in animals

Cerebellum

Responsible for coordinating voluntary movement

Frontal Lobes

Responsible for higher functions like decision-making and impulse control

Brainstem

Responsible for automatic functions like breathing and heart rate

Diffusion Tensor Imaging, EEG

Noninvasive assessment of brain injury and conditions like Multiple Sclerosis

Edward Tolman-Cognitive Maps

Concept of cognitive maps proposed by Edward Tolman

Other race effect

Tendency to perceive individuals from other races as similar

Estes-mathematical psychology

Branch of psychology founded by Estes focusing on mathematical models

George Miller

Contributed to information theory in psychology

Parts of a Neuron

Dendrites, cell body, axons, and synaptic terminals

Acoustic startle reflex

Habituation over time if exposed often

Priming

Mental preparation for a specific task or thought

Effects of drugs on neurons

Alter behavior of pre-synaptic and post-synaptic neurons and neurotransmitter clearance rate

Tolma and Honzk

Conducted maze experiments with rats

MS attacks myelin

Multiple Sclerosis attacks the myelin of axons, affecting mobility

Massed vs. Spaced Habituation

Faster habituation if massed, stronger but longer if spaced

Ubiquitous Habituation

Widespread occurrence of habituation