Habituation: Understanding the Biological Response

Habituation is a fundamental form of learning where an organism's response to a repeated, innocuous stimulus decreases over time. It's essentially learning to ignore unimportant stimuli.

Analyzing the Statements on Habituation

Let's examine each statement provided in the question to determine what is true about habituation:

• Statement a: "It refers to gradual increment in the strength of the response due to repetitive stimulation."

  This statement is false. Habituation is characterized by a decrease or reduction in response strength, not an increment.

• Statement b: "It refers to a gradual reduction in the strength of a response due to repetitive stimulation."

  This statement is true. This definition accurately describes the core concept of habituation. Repeated exposure to the same stimulus leads to a weaker response.

• Statement c: "A new stimulus-change in the environment causes the habituated response to return to a high level, an increase called dishabituation."

  This statement is true. If the original stimulus stops or a novel, significant stimulus is introduced, the previously reduced response can reappear. This process is known as dishabituation or recovery.

• Statement d: "A new stimulus-change in the environment will not influence the habituation."

  This statement is false. As explained in the analysis of statement 'c', a new or changed stimulus *can* influence the habituated state by causing dishabituation. Therefore, it does influence the overall pattern of response.

Conclusion on Habituation Statements

Based on the analysis, the statements that accurately describe habituation are 'b' and 'c'.

• Statement 'b' correctly defines habituation as a response reduction.
• Statement 'c' correctly describes the phenomenon of dishabituation following a stimulus change.

Therefore, the combination of statements 'b' and 'c' represents the true aspects of habituation among the choices given.