Question

When Kwina first moved into a house near the train tracks, she was woken every night by the sound of the train passing. After a few weeks living in her new house though, this stopped happening, and she rarely even notices the train when it passes in the daytime. This change suggests that Kwina has ______to the sound of the train.

a) Habituated
b) Sensitized
c) Generalized
d) Adapted

Answer 1

Kwina has habituated to the sound of the train, which means she has learned to stop responding to it after repeated exposure without any negative or positive consequences.

Step-by-step explanation:

When Kwina first moved into a house near the train tracks and was woken every night by the sound of the train passing, but after a few weeks she stopped noticing it, this change suggests that Kwina has habituated to the sound of the train. Habituation is a simple form of learning in which a person or an animal stops responding to a stimulus after being repeatedly exposed to it without any associated punishment or reward. An example of habituation can be seen when prairie dogs, which typically sound an alarm call when threatened, stop responding to the sound of human footsteps because they have learned that no danger is present.