How do habituation and sensitization affect responses to stimuli?

Habituation reduces responses to repetitive stimuli, while sensitisation increases responses to strong or harmful stimuli.

Habituation and sensitisation are two fundamental processes that influence how organisms respond to stimuli. Habituation is a form of learning in which an organism decreases or ceases its responses to a stimulus after repeated or prolonged exposure. This is essentially a process of 'getting used to' the stimulus. For example, if you live near a busy road, you may initially find the noise of the traffic disturbing. However, over time, you become habituated to the noise and it no longer bothers you. This is because your nervous system has learned to recognise the noise as non-threatening and therefore not worth responding to.

On the other hand, sensitisation is a non-associative learning process in which repeated administration of a stimulus results in the progressive amplification of a response. Sensitisation often occurs in response to an unpleasant or harmful stimulus. For instance, if you touch a hot stove, the pain will cause an immediate and strong withdrawal response. If you were to touch the stove again, the response would be quicker and more intense. This is because your nervous system has been sensitised to the stimulus and has learned to respond more strongly to protect you from harm.

Both habituation and sensitisation are adaptive responses that help organisms to survive in their environment. Habituation allows organisms to ignore irrelevant stimuli, freeing up cognitive resources to respond to new and potentially important stimuli. Sensitisation, on the other hand, helps organisms to respond more effectively to threatening stimuli, increasing their chances of survival.

In summary, habituation and sensitisation are two key processes that shape our responses to stimuli. Through habituation, we learn to ignore non-threatening, repetitive stimuli, while through sensitisation, we learn to respond more strongly to potentially harmful stimuli. Both processes play a crucial role in helping us navigate and adapt to our environment.