Jill runs a hot bath. She starts to get into the tub, but the water feels extremely hot. She stands in the hot water for a few moments, then slowly sits down, easing the rest of her body into the water. After a few minutes, she feels quite comfortable; the water no longer feels too hot to her. This decline in sensitivity to a constant stimulus is called:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Sensory adaptation refers to a decrease in sensitivity to a constant or unchanging stimulus, which is exactly what Jill is experiencing as she becomes comfortable in the hot water. Bottom-up processing refers to building up perception from individual pieces of sensory information, so it is not a relevant concept in this situation. Sensory saturation refers to the point at which a sensory system can no longer detect a stimulus due to its intensity, which does not apply here because Jill can still feel the water. Transduction refers to the process by which sensory information is converted into neural signals, which is also not relevant to this scenario.

Jill Runs a Hot Bath