Question 1

Suppose a person repeatedly plays a low-pitched tone to a rat. Which statement would demonstrate dishabituation in the rat?

Accepted Answer

Dishabituation occurs when a new stimulus (in this case, a loud tone) is introduced, causing the rat to respond again to the original stimulus (the low-pitched tone) after it had stopped responding due to habituation.

Question 2

Susan's daughter was constantly calling "Mommy" throughout the day, until Susan eventually barely noticed her daughter's calls. The next day, when Susan's daughter called "Mommy" for the first time, Susan did hear her. This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Spontaneous recovery refers to the reappearance of a previously extinguished response after a period of no exposure to the conditioned stimulus. In this case, Susan's response to her daughter's call had diminished (habituated) but then reappeared after a rest period (overnight), which is characteristic of spontaneous recovery.

Question 3

Which would be the MOST difficult to habituate to?

Accepted Answer

Habituation is a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations. The loud, banging sound that occurs every 5 minutes is the most difficult to habituate to because it is unpredictable and startling, making it more attention-grabbing and less likely to be ignored over time compared to constant or familiar stimuli.

Question 4

Which statement has been found to be TRUE regarding sexual arousal in humans?

Accepted Answer

Males habituate more strongly than females to sexual arousal.

Question 5

An infant turns to look at a novel pattern, this is an example of:

Accepted Answer

An orienting response is a reaction to novel or significant stimuli, where an organism pays attention to something new in its environment. When an infant turns to look at a novel pattern, they are displaying this natural, instinctive reaction to something unfamiliar or interesting.

Question 6

_____ exposure produces the fastest habituation, and _____ exposure produces the longest-lasting habituation.

Accepted Answer

Massed exposure leads to faster habituation because the stimuli are presented in rapid succession without breaks, allowing the organism to quickly adapt. Spaced exposure, where stimuli are presented with intervals in between, leads to longer-lasting habituation because the breaks allow the organism to partially recover from habituation, making the overall process more durable.

Question 7

In which situation would one habituate the MOST?

Accepted Answer

Habituation occurs more with stimuli that are not very arousing because the brain tends to ignore stimuli that do not require a strong response or attention, leading to a decrease in response over time.

Question 8

Habituation to a stimulus:

Accepted Answer

Habituation is a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure, which can carry risks if the stimulus is potentially dangerous and the organism becomes too accustomed to it, potentially ignoring threats. It does not require a brain, as even simple organisms can exhibit habituation, does not involve an increase in response, and does not last forever but can fade over time.

Question 9

Sensitization:

Accepted Answer

Sensitization requires fewer exposures to a stimulus than habituation does. It is a process where an organism becomes more responsive to a stimulus after repeated exposures, often to something potentially harmful or irritating, whereas habituation involves becoming less responsive to a harmless, repeated stimulus over time.

Question 10

Which statement is an example of habituation?

Accepted Answer

Habituation is a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations. In choice C, initially noticing the bakery smells but then not noticing them after a few minutes is an example of habituation, as the individual becomes accustomed to the stimulus (the smells) over time.

Question 11

A child repeatedly complains about having her teeth brushed by her mother. After a while, the mother doesn't even notice the child's complaints. This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

This is an example of habituation, which is a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations. The mother becomes used to the child's complaints and starts to notice them less.

Question 12

If one is feeling bored with one's romantic partner, which approach would be expected to improve one's feelings by bringing about dishabituation?

Accepted Answer

Engaging in new and exciting activities together can help break the monotony and bring about dishabituation, rejuvenating feelings of interest and excitement in the relationship.

Question 13

Jessie is lying down when suddenly a firefly moves across her room. It disappears after 10 seconds. When it reappears, she stares at it again. The duration of time in which she looks at it is known as:

Accepted Answer

Fixation time refers to the duration one spends looking at a stimulus, in this case, the firefly.

Question 14

When Michelle and Patrick met, she was bothered by his height, but after 15 years of marriage she barely notices it anymore. This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Habituation is the process of becoming accustomed to a stimulus over time, leading to a decrease in response. In this case, Michelle became accustomed to Patrick's height, so it no longer bothers her as it did initially.

Question 15

Since her grandmother's recent illness, Sarah has a heightened awareness of her family's health, and gets overly worried anytime a family member appears the least bit unwell. This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Sensitization is the correct answer because it refers to an increased reaction to a stimulus after exposure to a strong or painful stimulus. In this case, Sarah's heightened awareness and worry about her family's health following her grandmother's illness is an example of becoming more sensitive to the health conditions of those around her.

Question 16

A young girl observes how much her sister worries about her car being scratched. She waits for the moment she sits down to yell out "a branch fell on your car!" Her sister runs to check on her car and realizes it was a joke and walks away upset. The young girl continues this numerous times. One day, she looks out the window and notices that a branch is about to fall on the car. She calls out to her sister and is ignored. This is an example of the dangers of:

Accepted Answer

The scenario describes habituation, where the sister becomes accustomed to the false alarms about her car and eventually stops responding to them.

Question 17

When experiences with an arousing stimulus lead to a stronger-than-normal response to a later stimulus, this is known as:

Accepted Answer

Sensitization is the process where a repeated exposure to a stimulus results in the progressive amplification of a response. It leads to a stronger-than-normal response to a later stimulus, distinguishing it from habituation (decreased response over time), dishabituation (renewal of a response previously habituated), and priming (using a stimulus to influence a response to a subsequent stimulus, often related to memory and recognition rather than arousal).

Question 18

Suppose a baby is presented repeatedly with the color yellow. Which statement would demonstrate that habituation is stimulus specific in this case?

Accepted Answer

Habituation is stimulus specific when a decrease in response to one stimulus (yellow) does not generalize to a new stimulus (red), leading to a vigorous response to the new stimulus, indicating that the habituation to the first stimulus (yellow) does not affect the response to a different stimulus (red).

Question 19

If a person is nervous about climbing trees because of a tree fall in the past that resulted in a broken leg, the person may have become:

Accepted Answer

Sensitization refers to an increased reaction to a stimulus following exposure to a particularly strong or traumatic event. In this case, the person's nervousness about climbing trees due to a past injury from a tree fall is an example of becoming more sensitive to the situation, hence sensitized.

Question 20

If a loud noise is presented repeatedly to a rat, the rat's acoustic startle reflex will:

Accepted Answer

The rat's acoustic startle reflex will decrease due to a process called habituation, where an organism reduces its response to a stimulus after being exposed to it multiple times.

Quiz 3: Habituation, Sensitization, and Familiarization: Learning About Repeated Events