Question

A baby stops sucking his pacifier to listen to a tone. Later, after the tone has been repeated frequently, the infant ignores it. This is an example of:

1) Habituation
2) Sensitization
3) Classical conditioning
4) Operant conditioning

Answer 1

The baby's response to stop sucking the pacifier and ignore the repeated tone is an example of habituation, a form of non-associative learning where responses to a repeated, inconsequential stimulus decrease over time.

Step-by-step explanation:

The behavioral response described in the question is an example of habituation. Habituation is a form of non-associative learning where an organism decreases or ceases its responses to a stimulus after repeated presentations. Initially, the baby stops sucking his pacifier to listen to the new tone, which signals an orientation response. However, upon repeated exposure to the tone without any significant events occurring after the tone, the baby's response diminishes. The baby learns that the tone is neither beneficial nor harmful and thus stops paying attention to it.

An example of habituation in the animal kingdom includes prairie dogs decreasing their alarm calls in response to human footsteps when these do not lead to any harm. This learning process is critical because it allows animals and humans to ignore stimuli that do not provide relevant information about the environment.