Which term describes learning not to respond to the repeated presentation of a stimulus?

• A. Conditioning
• B. Generalization
• C. Habituation
• D. Discrimination

Answer: (C)

Habituation is the learning process where a person or animal shows a decreasing response to a repeated, harmless stimulus. The idea is that the stimulus has become familiar and no longer warrants attention or a reaction, so the nervous system dampens the response over time. This is different from conditioning, which requires forming an association between two things; generalization, which spreads the response to similar stimuli; and discrimination, which is learning to respond only to a specific, relevant stimulus. A key feature of habituation is that the reduced response is a result of experience with the stimulus, and it can return after a break, showing it’s a reversible learning process rather than a hard-wired reflex.