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Sensitization and habituation regulate reinforcer effectiveness.

Frances K McSweeney1, Eric S Murphy

  • 1Department of Psychology, Washington State University, PO Box 644820, Pullman, WA 99164-4820, USA.

Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
|August 5, 2008
PubMed
Summary
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Repeated exposure to reinforcers causes sensitization and habituation, altering their influence on behavior. These processes explain changes in operant responding within sessions, expanding habituation

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Learning Theory

Background:

  • Sensitization and habituation are typically studied with neutral stimuli.
  • Their role in modulating the behavioral effects of biologically significant stimuli, like reinforcers, is less understood.
  • Operant responding rates can change within experimental sessions despite constant reinforcement schedules.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose that sensitization and habituation occur to the sensory properties of reinforcers.
  • To argue that these processes modify the reinforcing efficacy of stimuli.
  • To extend the domain of habituation to biologically significant stimuli and operant behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of within-session changes in operant responding.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Comparison of empirical characteristics of behavioral changes with known properties of sensitization and habituation.
  • Examination of dishabituation and stimulus specificity to differentiate habituation from alternative explanations.

    • Main Results:

    • Operant response rates systematically change within sessions under constant reinforcement.
    • These within-session changes exhibit characteristics consistent with sensitization and habituation.
    • Dishabituation and stimulus specificity support habituation as an explanation.

    Conclusions:

    • Habituation and sensitization apply to reinforcers, influencing their control over behavior.
    • Habituation extends to biologically important stimuli and operant (voluntary) behaviors.
    • Habituation offers a parsimonious explanation for motivated behaviors, potentially supplanting homeostasis.