MCAT Psychological Social Foundations Flashcards: 7c Habituation Dishabituation

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This deck focuses on 7c Habituation Dishabituation, giving you a quick way to review the definitions, rules, and examples that matter most for MCAT Psychological Social Foundations.

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Flashcard 1: Identify the most likely explanation: response decreases to all stimuli after prolonged exertion.

Answer: Motor fatigue (not habituation). General decline indicates muscle exhaustion, not learning.

Flashcard 2: Identify the process: After habituation to a tone, a new light restores startle response.

Answer: Dishabituation. The novel stimulus interrupts the habituated state, reinstating the original response.

Flashcard 3: Identify the type of learning most directly represented by habituation and dishabituation.

Answer: Nonassociative learning. Single stimulus learning without reinforcement or association.

Flashcard 4: What is the orienting response, and how is it related to habituation?

Answer: Attention/arousal to novelty that diminishes with repeated exposure. Habituation reduces this automatic attention response to repeated stimuli.

Flashcard 5: Identify the best interpretation: response declines because the subject is too tired to respond.

Answer: Motor fatigue, not habituation. Exhaustion affects all responses, not specific to repeated stimulus.

Flashcard 6: Which term describes decreased response due to receptor fatigue rather than learning?

Answer: Sensory adaptation. It results from peripheral receptor changes, not central nervous system learning.

Flashcard 7: What does stimulus specificity mean in habituation?

Answer: Reduced response is greatest to the repeated stimulus, not all stimuli. Response decreases most to the habituated stimulus specifically.

Flashcard 8: Which option best fits dishabituation: novel stimulus, repeated identical stimulus, or rest?

Answer: Novel stimulus. A new or altered stimulus is required to reset the habituated response pattern.

Flashcard 9: Identify the most likely process: response decreases across trials and returns after a loud noise occurs.

Answer: Dishabituation. Loud noise restores habituated response, classic dishabituation.

Flashcard 10: Which stimulus intensity generally leads to slower habituation: weak or strong?

Answer: Strong (high-intensity) stimuli. Intense stimuli remain biologically relevant longer.

Flashcard 11: In classical conditioning terms, what is a key difference between habituation and extinction?

Answer: Extinction reduces a learned CS response; habituation reduces response to US. Extinction affects conditioned responses; habituation affects unconditioned ones.

Flashcard 12: Identify the best interpretation: response returns after a break with no new stimulus introduced.

Answer: Spontaneous recovery of habituation. Response recovers after rest without new stimulation.

Flashcard 13: What is the key behavioral criterion that indicates habituation has occurred?

Answer: Progressive decrease in response magnitude to the repeated stimulus. It demonstrates that the organism has learned to filter out the repeated, irrelevant stimulus.

Flashcard 14: What key feature distinguishes habituation from sensory adaptation?

Answer: Habituation is central; sensory adaptation is peripheral receptor change. Habituation occurs in CNS processing; adaptation occurs at sensory receptors.

Flashcard 15: Which option best supports habituation over sensory adaptation: response returns to the same stimulus after a break?

Answer: Spontaneous recovery after a rest period. Recovery shows CNS learning, not permanent receptor changes.

Flashcard 16: What is the key difference between habituation and extinction in classical conditioning?

Answer: Habituation is nonassociative; extinction is loss of a learned association. Habituation needs no pairing; extinction removes CS-US association.

Flashcard 17: Which type of learning best describes habituation: associative or nonassociative?

Answer: Nonassociative learning. No pairing with other stimuli required; response changes to single stimulus.

Flashcard 18: Which stimulus pattern produces faster habituation: frequent repetitions or rare repetitions?

Answer: Frequent repetitions. More exposures lead to faster learning that stimulus is irrelevant.

Flashcard 19: Which stimulus property typically produces faster habituation: weak or intense stimulus?

Answer: Weak stimulus. Less salient stimuli are more quickly deemed irrelevant, accelerating habituation.

Flashcard 20: Which term describes increased responding after repeated or intense stimulation: habituation or sensitization?

Answer: Sensitization. Response amplifies with repeated/intense stimuli, opposite of habituation.

Flashcard 21: What is the typical effect of increasing interstimulus interval on habituation rate?

Answer: Longer intervals generally slow habituation. More time between stimuli maintains response strength longer.

Flashcard 22: Which option best indicates fatigue rather than habituation: response drops to all tasks, not just one?

Answer: Fatigue. Global performance decline indicates fatigue, not stimulus-specific habituation.

Flashcard 23: Which option best indicates the infant discriminates stimuli: looking time increases to a new image?

Answer: Dishabituation indicates discrimination of the novel stimulus. Renewed interest (dishabituation) shows infant detected the difference.

Flashcard 24: Which option best indicates true habituation rather than fatigue: stimulus-specific or generalized decrease?

Answer: Stimulus-specific decrease in responding. Fatigue would reduce all responses equally, not selectively.

Flashcard 25: Identify the best interpretation: Response returns after a break with no new stimulus.

Answer: Spontaneous recovery. Absence of stimulation allows the habituated state to dissipate over time.

Flashcard 26: Which stimulus pattern produces faster habituation: frequent predictable or rare unpredictable?

Answer: Frequent predictable stimulation. Predictable patterns allow faster learning to ignore stimulus.

Flashcard 27: Which condition best distinguishes habituation from fatigue?

Answer: Habituation is stimulus-specific; fatigue is generalized performance drop. Fatigue affects all responses; habituation is specific to repeated stimulus.

Flashcard 28: Identify the process: A baby startles less to a repeated tone across trials.

Answer: Habituation. Shows decreased responding to repeated benign stimulus.

Flashcard 29: What is habituation in learning and behavior?

Answer: Decreased response after repeated exposure to a benign stimulus. Organism learns to ignore irrelevant stimuli through CNS changes.

Flashcard 30: What is habituation in behavioral neuroscience and learning theory?

Answer: Decreased response to a repeated, benign stimulus over time. Non-associative learning where response diminishes to harmless repetition.

Flashcard 31: Identify the correct label: startle returns after a new light flash occurs between tones.

Answer: Dishabituation. Novel light stimulus restores the habituated startle response.

Flashcard 32: Which stimulus intensity produces slower habituation: weak or strong stimulation?

Answer: Strong stimulation. Intense stimuli remain biologically relevant longer, resisting habituation.

Flashcard 33: Which option best describes dishabituation: rest alone or a novel/strong stimulus?

Answer: A novel or strong stimulus. Dishabituation requires an intervening stimulus, not just rest.

Flashcard 34: Which stimulus variability produces slower habituation: constant or variable stimulation?

Answer: Variable stimulation. Unpredictable stimuli maintain attention and biological relevance.

Flashcard 35: What is the typical effect of increasing stimulus frequency on habituation rate?

Answer: Higher frequency generally speeds habituation. More frequent exposure accelerates the habituation process.

Flashcard 36: Identify the process: repeated loud tone leads to decreased startle response over trials.

Answer: Habituation. Repeated exposure reduces startle through nonassociative learning.

Flashcard 37: What is habituation in learning and behavior?

Answer: Decreased response after repeated exposure to a benign stimulus. This process enables organisms to conserve energy by ignoring familiar, non-threatening stimuli over time.

Flashcard 38: Which experimental measure is most commonly used to index infant habituation in cognition studies?

Answer: Decreased looking time (or fixation duration) to a repeated stimulus. Infants look less at familiar stimuli, indicating habituation.

Flashcard 39: Identify the process: After a loud clap, the baby startles again to the same tone.

Answer: Dishabituation. The loud clap acts as a novel stimulus, restoring the startle response.

Flashcard 40: Which type of learning does habituation represent: associative or nonassociative?

Answer: Nonassociative learning. No stimulus pairing or association formation occurs.

Flashcard 41: What is stimulus generalization of habituation?

Answer: Habituation transfers to similar stimuli, with less response to them. Similar stimuli show reduced response through generalization.

Flashcard 42: Which condition best distinguishes habituation from sensory adaptation?

Answer: Habituation is central; sensory adaptation is receptor-level change. Habituation involves brain processing; adaptation occurs at sensory receptors.

Flashcard 43: Which outcome best reflects generalization rather than stimulus specificity in habituation?

Answer: Reduced response spreads to similar stimuli, not just the repeated one. Generalization shows response decrease extends beyond specific stimulus.

Flashcard 44: Identify the key criterion that distinguishes habituation from sensory adaptation.

Answer: Habituation is central learning; adaptation is peripheral receptor fatigue. CNS processing vs peripheral receptor changes distinguish the two.

Flashcard 45: Which option best distinguishes extinction from habituation: loss of CR after CS-only trials?

Answer: Extinction. CR loss after removing US shows associative learning breakdown.

Flashcard 46: Identify the best interpretation: Responding drops to tone A, but returns to tone B.

Answer: Habituation to tone A (stimulus-specific), not fatigue. Response returns to tone B shows specific learning, not general fatigue.

Flashcard 47: What is the key difference between habituation and sensory adaptation?

Answer: Habituation is central; sensory adaptation is peripheral receptor change. Habituation involves CNS learning; adaptation is receptor fatigue.

Flashcard 48: What is dishabituation in learning and behavior?

Answer: Recovery of a habituated response after a novel or changed stimulus. It occurs when a change disrupts the habituated state, restoring attention to the environment.

Flashcard 49: What is the key difference between habituation and fatigue as causes of reduced responding?

Answer: Habituation is stimulus-specific; fatigue is generalized motor decline. Fatigue affects all responses; habituation targets specific stimuli.

Flashcard 50: Identify the concept: infant looks less at a repeated image, then looks more at a new image.

Answer: Habituation followed by dishabituation. Decreased looking shows habituation; new image causes dishabituation.

Flashcard 51: What is the typical effect of increasing interstimulus interval on habituation rate?

Answer: Longer intervals usually slow habituation; shorter intervals speed it. Extended intervals allow partial recovery, reducing cumulative habituation effects.

Flashcard 52: Which term describes reduced responding due to motor system fatigue rather than learning?

Answer: Response (motor) fatigue. It stems from exhaustion in the effector system, distinct from cognitive habituation.

Flashcard 53: Which option is the clearest operational measure of habituation in an infant study?

Answer: Decrease in looking time across repeated presentations of the same stimulus. Looking time is objective, measurable indicator of attention/interest.

Flashcard 54: What is stimulus specificity in habituation?

Answer: Reduced responding occurs mainly to the repeated stimulus, not all stimuli. Response decreases only to the habituated stimulus, preserving others.

Flashcard 55: Which option best indicates sensory adaptation rather than habituation: receptor firing declines during constant odor?

Answer: Sensory adaptation. Peripheral receptor changes indicate adaptation, not central habituation.

Flashcard 56: Which type of learning best describes dishabituation: associative or nonassociative?

Answer: Nonassociative learning. Response changes without stimulus pairing or reinforcement.

Flashcard 57: What pattern of responding would indicate sensitization rather than habituation?

Answer: Increased response magnitude with repeated stimulation. Sensitization heightens arousal to potentially threatening repeated stimuli.

Flashcard 58: What is stimulus generalization of habituation?

Answer: Reduced responding transfers to stimuli similar to the habituated one. Similar stimuli show reduced response like the habituated one.

Flashcard 59: What does dishabituation imply about the organism's sensory capacity for the original stimulus?

Answer: The organism can still detect it; the reduced response was not sensory loss. Shows sensory systems intact; response reduction was learned.

Flashcard 60: Identify the correct label: repeated loud tone leads to smaller startle response over trials.

Answer: Habituation. Repeated exposure reduces startle magnitude through habituation.

Flashcard 61: Which feature best distinguishes habituation from sensory adaptation?

Answer: Habituation is central learning; sensory adaptation is peripheral change. Habituation involves neural plasticity in the brain, while adaptation is a sensory threshold shift.

Flashcard 62: Which outcome best supports stimulus specificity: decreased response to tone but not to light?

Answer: Stimulus specificity. Selective reduction demonstrates habituation's specificity to trained stimuli.

Flashcard 63: What is habituation in behavioral neuroscience and learning?

Answer: Decreased response to a repeated, benign stimulus over time. Response weakens when stimulus proves harmless through repetition.

Flashcard 64: Identify the confound: Reduced response occurs because sensory receptors stop firing.

Answer: Sensory adaptation (not habituation). Receptor-level changes mimic habituation but lack learning components.

Flashcard 65: Which outcome best supports generalization: decreased response to tone and similar pitch tones?

Answer: Generalization. Transfer to similar stimuli shows habituation's gradient based on perceptual overlap.

Flashcard 66: What is dishabituation?

Answer: Recovery of a habituated response after a novel stimulus appears. Novel stimulus temporarily restores the habituated response.

Flashcard 67: Identify the best interpretation: response declines because receptors stop firing to constant light.

Answer: Sensory adaptation, not habituation. Receptor-level change indicates peripheral process, not central learning.

Flashcard 68: Which concept explains why a repeated irrelevant stimulus is ignored to conserve attention?

Answer: Habituation as an attentional filtering mechanism. It prioritizes processing of novel or important information over familiar inputs.

Flashcard 69: Identify the term: startle response returns after a new sound occurs between tones.

Answer: Dishabituation. Novel stimulus interrupts habituation, restoring the original response.

Flashcard 70: What is spontaneous recovery in habituation?

Answer: Return of a habituated response after a rest period without exposure. Time away from stimulus allows response to partially recover.

Flashcard 71: Which learning type best describes dishabituation: associative or nonassociative?

Answer: Nonassociative learning. Dishabituation reflects a reset in nonassociative learning triggered by novelty, not paired stimuli.

Flashcard 72: Which option best indicates habituation rather than sensory adaptation: response decreases only for that sound?

Answer: Habituation (stimulus-specific decrease suggests central learning). Specific decrease indicates central processing, not receptor fatigue.

Flashcard 73: Identify the term: decreased startle response to repeated loud tones over time.

Answer: Habituation. Classic example of response reduction to repeated, harmless stimuli.

Flashcard 74: Which option best defines stimulus specificity in habituation?

Answer: Reduced response is strongest for the repeated stimulus, not all stimuli. Response decreases specifically to habituated stimulus, not others.

Flashcard 75: What key feature distinguishes habituation from motor fatigue?

Answer: Habituation is not due to muscle exhaustion; response can recover quickly. Dishabituation proves muscles still work; it's a learning process, not fatigue.

Flashcard 76: What is stimulus generalization in habituation?

Answer: Reduced response transfers to similar stimuli. Brain generalizes learned irrelevance to perceptually similar stimuli.

Flashcard 77: What is stimulus specificity in habituation?

Answer: Reduced responding is strongest for the repeated stimulus, not all stimuli. It shows that habituation is tuned to particular features of the familiar stimulus.

Flashcard 78: What is meant by "habituation is not sensory fatigue"?

Answer: Reduced responding reflects CNS processing, not exhausted receptors. Brain processes change, not receptor exhaustion or damage.

Flashcard 79: Identify the typical effect of more frequent stimulus presentations on habituation rate.

Answer: More frequent presentations produce faster habituation. Rapid repetition accelerates the habituation process.

Flashcard 80: Identify the key criterion that distinguishes habituation from motor fatigue.

Answer: Habituation is stimulus-specific; fatigue is general performance decline. Response decreases to specific stimulus, not overall performance.

Flashcard 81: Which stimulus property typically produces slower habituation: weak or intense stimulus?

Answer: Intense stimulus. Stronger stimuli maintain salience longer, delaying the habituation process.

Flashcard 82: Identify the process: A repeated tone elicits less startle response over trials.

Answer: Habituation. Repeated exposure leads to diminished orienting response as the tone becomes familiar.

Flashcard 83: Which brain structure is classically linked to habituation of the startle reflex in mammals?

Answer: Brainstem (startle circuit modulation). Startle reflex habituation involves brainstem neural circuits.

Flashcard 84: What type of learning is habituation classified as?

Answer: Nonassociative learning. No association needed; response decreases through repetition alone.

Flashcard 85: What is stimulus specificity in habituation?

Answer: Habituation is strongest for the repeated stimulus, weaker for different ones. Response reduction is most pronounced for exact stimulus, less for variants.

Flashcard 86: Which learning type best describes habituation: associative or nonassociative?

Answer: Nonassociative learning. Habituation involves changes in response to a single stimulus without forming associations between stimuli.

Flashcard 87: Which type of learning does dishabituation represent: associative or nonassociative?

Answer: Nonassociative learning. Like habituation, it involves single stimulus exposure without pairing.

Flashcard 88: Which outcome best supports dishabituation: response returns after a different stimulus, then declines again?

Answer: Dishabituation followed by renewed habituation. Shows both recovery (dishabituation) and continued learning (re-habituation).

Flashcard 89: Which stimulus intensity typically produces slower habituation: strong or weak stimulation?

Answer: Strong stimulation produces slower habituation. Intense stimuli remain biologically relevant longer.

Flashcard 90: Which option best indicates true habituation: response drops and returns with a novel cue?

Answer: True habituation (dishabituation demonstrates the response is intact). Novel cue causing response recovery proves CNS learning, not fatigue/adaptation.

Flashcard 91: What is dishabituation?

Answer: Recovery of a habituated response after a novel or intense stimulus. Novel stimulus temporarily restores the diminished response.

Flashcard 92: Identify the typical effect of higher stimulus intensity on habituation rate.

Answer: Higher intensity produces slower habituation. Stronger stimuli resist habituation more than weaker ones.

Flashcard 93: What is stimulus specificity in habituation?

Answer: Reduced response is strongest for the repeated stimulus, not all stimuli. Shows the response decrease is learned, not due to general fatigue.

Flashcard 94: Choose the word that best fits: Increasing response across trials to a loud noise is  .

Answer: Sensitization. Repeated aversive stimuli can amplify responses via heightened arousal.

Flashcard 95: What is spontaneous recovery in habituation paradigms?

Answer: Return of the response after a rest period without stimulation. This indicates that habituation is temporary and the response can re-emerge without new learning.

Flashcard 96: What is spontaneous recovery in the context of habituation?

Answer: Response returns after a rest period without exposure to the stimulus. Time away allows habituated response to recover without retraining.

Flashcard 97: Identify the key feature of dishabituation that supports habituation as learning, not fatigue.

Answer: A novel stimulus restores responding despite continued stimulation capacity. If fatigue caused decrease, novel stimulus couldn't restore response.

Flashcard 98: What is generalization in habituation contexts?

Answer: Habituated decrease transfers to stimuli similar to the repeated stimulus. This reflects how habituation can extend to related stimuli based on similarity.

Flashcard 99: Which option best indicates habituation rather than extinction: no US presented or repeated benign stimulus?

Answer: Repeated benign stimulus (habituation), not omission of a US (extinction). Habituation: no reinforcement involved; extinction: CS without US.

Flashcard 100: What is a canonical neural mechanism for habituation in the Aplysia gill-withdrawal reflex?

Answer: Presynaptic depression: reduced neurotransmitter release from sensory neurons. Synaptic efficiency decreases through reduced transmitter release.