Habituation is defined as which of the following?

• A. A decrease in the strength of a naturally elicited behavior that occurs through repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus.
• B. An increase in response strength with repeated exposure.
• C. A random change in behavior.
• D. A learned response to a new stimulus.

Answer: (A)

Habitulation is a basic form of learning in which a response to a repeated, non-threatening stimulus decreases over time. It’s non-associative, meaning there’s no reinforcement or punishment involved; the organism simply learns that the stimulus is irrelevant and reduces its reaction. This contrasts with sensitization, where responses grow stronger with repeated exposure, and with random or novel-stimulus learning, which don’t describe this gradual decrease. Habituation is often somewhat specific to the stimulus and context and can recover after a break in exposure, reflecting that the change is learned but not permanent.