Final answer:
Habituation involves a decrease in response to a benign stimulus after repeated exposure without associated consequences, and is a form of non-associative learning. Extinction, on the other hand, pertains to the process where a conditioned response ceases when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus. Option 3) is the most accurate because it presents the key difference in the processes underlying habituation versus extinction.
Step-by-step explanation:
Exposing a patient to a spider multiple times to reduce response is considered habituation rather than extinction because habituation involves a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure without any associated consequence, while extinction refers to the process where a conditioned response decreases and eventually disappears when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus. In the case of habituation, the spider represents a benign stimulus to which the person becomes less responsive over time, which is different from extinction, where a learned association is weakened by the removal or absence of reinforcement.
Habituation is a form of non-associative learning where there is no reward or punishment linked to the stimulus, and the response decreases due to repeated exposure. In contrast, extinction in the context of classical conditioning involves a previously established association between a conditioned and an unconditioned stimulus that is broken by presenting the conditioned stimulus alone without the expected outcome.
Therefore, neither option 1) nor 4) fully captures the distinction between habituation and extinction. Option 2) is partially accurate but might suggest that extinction is not a form of learning, which is misleading. Option 3) is the most accurate because it presents the key difference in the processes underlying habituation versus extinction.