Chapter 3: Habituation

elicited behaviour

a behaviour that automatically occurs in response to a certain stimulus

reflex

a relatively simple, involuntary response to a stimulus

startle response

a defensive reaction to a sudden, unexpected stimulus, which involves automatic tightening of skeletal muscles and various hormonal and visceral changes

orienting response

the automatic positioning of oneself to facilitate attending to a stimulus

flexion response

the automatic response of jerking one’s hand or foot away from a hot or sharp object

1. sensory

2. interneurons

3. motor neurons

simple reflexes involve three neurons:

interneurons

CNS neurons that communicate between the sensory and motor neurons

motor neurons

CNS>muscles & glands

plastic

behaviour is ________

habituation

a decrease in the strength of an elicited behaviour following repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus

sensitization

an increase in the strength of an elicited behaviour following repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus

adaptive

habituation and sensitization are _________

background noise

what aspect is changing in Davis’ experiment in rats startle response?

soft (60dB)

repetitions of tone resulted in weaker startle response habituation

loud (80dB)

repetitions of tone resulted in stronger startle response sensitization

more complex and trying to see all details

Why do babies have an increase in looking time on trial 2 during habituation studies?

1. sensory adaptation

2. response fatigue

explanations for a decrease in responding to repeated stimulation (2)

sensory adaptation

temporary reduction in sensitivity of sense organs caused by repeated or excession stimulation

response fatigue

temporary decrease in behaviour caused by repeated or excessive use of muscles involved in behaviour

by showing that habituation is response specific

how is sensory adaptation ruled out when considering habituation?

by showing that habituation is stimulus specific

how is response fatigue ruled out when considering habituation?

1. time course

2. spontaneous recovery

3. relearning effects

4. stimulus intensity

5. spacing of stimulations

6. dishabituation

7. stimulus specificity

characteristics of habituation (7)

time course

decrements in responding large initially but get progressively smaller as habituation proceeds

spontaneous recovery

if after habituation the stimulus is withheld for some period of time, the response will recover

relearning effects

if you have repeated habituation sessions, habituation occurs more rapidly on each successive session, and amount of recovery will be less each session

stimulus intensity

habituation occurs more quickly with weak stimuli and if stimuli is too intense you may not see habituation

spacing of stimulations

short-term and long-term habituation

short-term habituation

rapid presentations of a stimulus with a short interval between presentations, results in habituation quickly but spontaneous recovery that depends on length of rest interval

long-term habituation

one stimulus presentation a day, more long-term effects, and less spontaneous recovery

dishabituation

restoration of habituated response by sensitizing the organism with exposure to an extraneous stimuli

stimulus specificity of habituation

specific to stimulus that’s repeatedly presented and if you change stimulus you will see recovery of response

stimulus specificity of sensitization

not highly stimulus specific and if an animal is aroused it’s usually to a variety of cues

dual-process theory

assume two underlying neural processes are responsible for changes in responsiveness to stimulation

habituation process

produces decreases in responsiveness

sensitization process

produces increases in responsiveness

process

underlying neural mechanism

effect

behaviour

neurophysiological basis

habituation and sensitization processes occur in different parts of the nervous system

S-R

habituation occurs in the ____ system

what is the S-R system

shortest neural path connecting stimulus and response (sense organs and muscles)

state

sensitization processes occur in ____ system

what is the state system

consists of other parts of the nervous system that determine organism’s level of responsiveness/readiness to respond

state system determines animal’s _____ to respond

readiness

specific response elicited by a particular stimulus

S-R system enables animal to make:

the opponent-process theory of motivation/emotion

an emotional event elicits two competing processes: a-process and b-process

a-process

primary, directly elicited by event

b-process

opponent, elicited by a-process and serves to counteract a-process

a-process characterstic

correlates closely with presence of emotional event

b-process characteristics

slow to increase and decrease

homeostatic theory

function of mechanisms that control emotional behaviour is to minimize deviations from emotional stability