Elicited Behavior and Opponent Process Theory

Flashcards covering key vocabulary related to elicited behavior, habituation, sensitization, Aplysia studies, and opponent process theory, based on the provided lecture notes.

Habituation

A learning process that increases thresholds, filtering out external stimuli of little relevance, making it harder for those stimuli to produce a response.

Sensitization

A learning process that decreases thresholds, making it easier for stimuli to produce a response to potentially relevant external events.

Optimization (Sensitization & Habituation)

The combined effect of sensitization (detecting and responding to significant events) and habituation (ignoring unimportant events) to optimize an animal's likelihood of responding to its environment.

Sensitization (Rat Startle Preparation)

Enhanced responsiveness to a stimulus when the subject is aroused, where habituation to a tone is replaced by sensitization if the tone occurs while the animal is aroused.

Fear-Potentiated Acoustic Startle

An increased startle response to a sound when negative emotion is evoked, compared to a non-threatening condition, serving as an example of sensitization.

Sensitization Effect

The phenomenon where, if already aroused, the same stimulus will trigger a much stronger reaction.

Dual-Process Theory

A theory postulating two separate processes, an S-R System and a State System, which encourage opposite effects and operate simultaneously.

S-R System (Habituation)

The path from stimulus (S) to response (R) which becomes less easily activated with repeated presentations of a specific stimulus, leading to habituation.

State System (Sensitization)

A system activated by arousing events; if silent, habituation is likely, but if active (not silent), sensitization is likely.

Eric Kandel

A researcher known for his work on the cellular and molecular basis of learning, particularly using the Aplysia sea slug.

Aplysia (Habituation)

A sea slug whose gill movement and siphon withdrawal quickly habituates with repeated water jet presentations, but sensitization can be observed if the creature is aroused after habituation.

Short-Term Habituation (Aplysia)

In Aplysia, habituation that lasts 20-30 minutes, best achieved if many water jets are applied closely in time for a single session.

Long-Term Habituation (Aplysia)

In Aplysia, habituation that lasts a week, best achieved if water jets occur repeatedly, well-spaced, over many sessions.

Mechanism of Habituation (Conclusion)

Decreases in synaptic transmission as a result of experience, distinguishing it from fatigue or sensory loss.

Short-Term Habituation (Cellular, Presynaptic)

At the cellular level, involves a decrease in glutamate neurotransmission in the 'sending' (pre-synaptic) neuron due to less calcium (Ca) influx and less neurotransmitter released, lasting about 20-30 minutes.

Long-Term Habituation (Cellular, Postsynaptic)

At the cellular level, involves the physical remodeling of the 'receiving' (post-synaptic) neuron with fewer receptors, leading to long-term depression (LTD) where it is less responsive to the sending neuron.

Sensitization (Aplysia Neural)

At the neural level in Aplysia, one tail shock causes the serotonin (5-HT) interneuron to be active, leading to a large gill response when a water jet is presented, causing short-term sensitization lasting about 1 hour.

Long-Term Sensitization (Cellular, Postsynaptic)

At the cellular level, involves the physical remodeling of the 'receiving' neuron with more receptors, producing long-term potentiation (LTP) where it listens more carefully to the 'sending' neuron.

Opponent Process Theory (Solomon & Corbit)

A theory by Solomon and Corbit (1974) explaining the habituation of strong emotional reactions and physiological changes induced by drugs, assuming the body tries to maintain homeostasis by initiating a counteracting force.

Homeostasis

The tendency of the body to seek and maintain a condition of internal stability and balance, often by counteracting external changes.

a-process

According to opponent process theory, the initial affective (emotional) reaction to an environmental stimulus, whose strength does not change with repeated experience.

b-process

According to opponent process theory, the opponent process that counteracts the a-process to bring the organism back to homeostasis; it is initially less intense, recruited later, lingers longer, and strengthens with repeated experience.

Strengthening of b-process

With repeated experience, the b-process's onset is faster and it becomes stronger, more effectively counteracting the a-process, which may explain some cases of habituation.

Opponent Process Theory (Drug Tolerance)

Explains drug tolerance as the strengthening of the b-process over repeated drug presentations, effectively counteracting the initial (a-process) drug effect, leading to reduced drug effect over time.

Tolerance

A reduced drug effect with repeated experience, explained by the strengthening of the opponent b-process.

Withdrawal

Symptoms experienced upon removal of a drug, which are often opposite to the initial drug effect and are a product of the opponent b-process.