Final answer:
The return of response to a previously habituated stimulus due to exposure to a sensitizing stimulus is known as dishabituation. This phenomenon can reset the non-response to the habitual stimulus, contrasting with spontaneous recovery, which involves the return of an extinguished conditioned response after a rest period. The correct answer is dishabituation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The return of responding to a stimulus that had previously been habituated to because a sensitizing stimulus is experienced is known as dishabituation. This occurs when a novel stimulus interrupts, and thereby restores, the response to the habitual stimulus. For example, if an animal is habituated to a sound and stops responding to it, but then experiences a loud, unexpected noise, the original response to the habituated sound can return.
Habituation is a simple form of learning where an animal or human stops responding to a repeated, non-dangerous stimulus. Sensitization, on the other hand, refers to an increased reaction to a stimulus following exposure to another, often stronger or painful, stimulus.
Dishabituation essentially is the reset of habituation due to a new, often related, stimulus. It is important to note that dishabituation differs from spontaneous recovery, which is the return of an extinguished conditioned response after a period of non-exposure to the conditioned stimulus.