Which term describes the decrease in responsiveness to repeated stimulation?

Which term describes the decrease in responsiveness to repeated stimulation?

• A. Sensory adaptation
• B. Habituation
• C. Imprinting
• D. Stranger anxiety

Answer: (B)

Habituation is the phenomenon where a response to a repeated, benign stimulus diminishes over time. It’s a learning process where the brain recognizes the stimulus as irrelevant and lowers the behavioral reaction to it. This differs from sensory adaptation, which is a receptor-level change in sensitivity to continuous stimulation. Imprinting is the rapid early attachment to a caregiver or object, and stranger anxiety refers to infants’ fear of unfamiliar people. So the term that best fits the idea of a decreasing response to repeated stimulation is habituation.

Habituation is the phenomenon where a response to a repeated, benign stimulus diminishes over time. It’s a learning process where the brain recognizes the stimulus as irrelevant and lowers the behavioral reaction to it. This differs from sensory adaptation, which is a receptor-level change in sensitivity to continuous stimulation. Imprinting is the rapid early attachment to a caregiver or object, and stranger anxiety refers to infants’ fear of unfamiliar people. So the term that best fits the idea of a decreasing response to repeated stimulation is habituation.