Habituation and awareness: two ways of responding to the environment

Sometimes a family member visits us and claims to perceive a characteristic aroma in our house that we do not notice. And yet, other times the smells in the environment seem unbearably intense to us; For example, if we live above a restaurant. This is due to two opposing processes that come into play when we are repeatedly exposed to a stimulus: habituation and sensitization.

We cannot forget that no matter how cognitively evolved we are, human beings are still animals, and we have certain basic shared processes. Habituation and sensitization are two adjustment mechanisms, present in all organisms with a nervous system, which allow us to organize our behavior in an environment full of stimuli like the one we inhabit. If you want to know more about it, we invite you to continue reading.

Habituation and sensitization as response mechanisms

Habituation and awareness are two basic pre-associative learning processes, present in all animal species. They are really useful for being able to function in the environment, as they help us respond (or not respond) depending on how relevant the environmental stimuli are.

In our daily lives, we find numerous examples of these processes. But what exactly do they consist of?

If we constantly draw our children’s attention and tell them what to do and what not to do, it is very likely that they will get used to it and end up doing what they want.

Habituation

Habituation is defined as a decrease in response upon repeated exposure to an eliciting stimulus. Let’s keep in mind that on a daily basis we are surrounded by a multitude of stimuli, and if we had to pay attention to all of them, we would be very non-functional. Therefore, habituation causes us to “get used” to their presence and we no longer spend energy and resources attending to them.

This is the case of that particular aroma of our house that we no longer even perceive, or what happens to us with the noise of traffic: those who live on busy streets barely notice it.

This also happens in interpersonal relationships. For example, if we constantly tell a child not to do this or not to do that, he ends up turning a deaf ear to our demands. On the other hand, if we reserve this word for critical and specific occasions, it will have much more effect.

Among adults we also develop habituation and you can surely remember a time when it happened to you. For example, if you have a victimizing family member who spends his time complaining, his attitude stops having an effect on you and his words no longer resonate with you.

Sensitization

Now, there are cases in which the opposite happens: the more exposed we are to a stimulus, the more it bothers us and the more intense it seems to us. Instead of getting used to it, it seems like it makes us react more and more.

For example, when a baby cries we cannot turn a deaf ear, but the crying increasingly grates on our nerves. Or when there is construction going on next to our house, the noise becomes more and more annoying.

We can say that after several exposures we overreact, because we are already sensitized. Thus, awareness consists of an increase in response upon repeated exposure to a stimulus.

Loud noises usually generate sensitization.

Dual process theory: what does our response depend on?

At this point, you are probably wondering how these two seemingly opposite processes can coexist. Why in some cases does repeated exposure to the stimulus increase the response and in others decrease it? The key is found in the dual process theory of Groves and Thompson.

This theory explains that habituation and sensitization are not two mutually exclusive processes; in fact, they can be started at the same time, since They are the product of different neural processes.

Habituation takes place in the ER (stimulus-response) system which is activated whenever an eliciting stimulus is presented. Sensitization, on the other hand, follows the so-called “state system” that is only activated when the stimulus causes a lot of excitement.

That is why very intense stimuli (for example, loud noises) are more likely to generate sensitization than soft ones (which normally cause habituation). There are other factors that also influence the response we give; For example, if we are tired or angry, or if the situation is emotionally stimulating, sensitization is more likely to prevail.

In any case, The answer we give is the net effect of both processes (habituation and sensitization) and depends on which one prevails over the other in each specific circumstance.

Habituation and sensitization are two adaptive phenomena

Maybe sometimes we think that we would like to get rid of the sensitivity, so that the crying of our child or the beeping of the alarm clock every morning would not irritate us so much. Or, perhaps, free ourselves from habituation, to prevent monotony from settling in with our partner or from stopping our work from being stimulating.

However, Both processes are necessary and beneficial, They allow us to function more agilely on a daily basis, be alert to possible dangers and avoid wasting energy and mental resources on what does not require it.

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