How does habituation differ from extinction?
AHabituation is the reward given after each correct response
BHabituation means losing attention to one unchanging stimulus
CHabituation is the return of a response after a rest period
DHabituation means breaking a learned link between two stimuli
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Habituation means losing attention to one unchanging stimulus
1. Habituation occurs when we learn not to respond to a stimulus that is presented repeatedly without change.
2. Only one stimulus is involved, and the change is a loss of attention to it, as with television noise that you stop noticing over time.
3. Extinction involves two stimuli: the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus, so the learned link between them weakens.
4. Option D therefore describes extinction, and option C describes spontaneous recovery.
5. Both processes reduce responding, which is why they are confused, but only extinction undoes a previously learned association.
_Source: OpenStax Psychology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 6 "Learning", §6.2 Classical Conditioning_
Related questions
What does the chapter say about attempts at third-order conditioning?In Bandura's Bobo doll experiment, the children's imitation of the adult's aggression depeA time-out is most likely to backfire as a form of discipline when:Which statement correctly captures the timing difference between classical and operant conIn shaping, once the learner reliably performs a closer approximation to the target behaviWhich reinforcement schedule is the most productive and the most resistant to extinction?Comparing fixed-ratio and fixed-interval schedules, the chapter concludes that:Taste aversion is an unusual form of classical conditioning because: