habituation
Americannoun
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the act of habituating.
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the condition of being habituated.
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physiological tolerance to or psychological dependence on a drug, short of addiction.
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reduction of psychological or behavioral response occurring when a specific stimulus occurs repeatedly.
noun
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the act or process of habituating
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psychol the temporary waning of an innate response that occurs when it is elicited many times in succession Compare extinction
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The gradual decline of a response to a stimulus resulting from repeated exposure to the stimulus.
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Physiological tolerance for a drug resulting from repeated use.
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Psychological dependence on a drug resulting from repeated use.
Etymology
Origin of habituation
Explanation
Habituation is what happens when an organism gets used to a certain environment or stimulus. Through habituation, the squirrels in a city park often become so used to humans that they don't run away from them — and even beg them for food. If you live near an airport and hear planes taking off and landing every day, habituation occurs — eventually you get so used to the noise that you don't even notice it. The same thing happens to non-human organisms. Thanks to habituation, your pet turtle doesn't hide in his shell every time you touch him anymore. He is used to you petting him. When the world presents a new stimulus, habituation can help an animal adapt to it. Habituation comes from the Late Latin habituat, "accustomed."
Vocabulary lists containing habituation
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Habituation -- adaptation's less-glamorous sibling -- involves the lessening response to a stimulus after repeated exposure.
From Science Daily • Nov. 19, 2024
Habituation and sensitization are types of so-called nonassociative learning, as they don’t require connections between two different stimulus types in order to generate a response.
From Science Magazine • Sep. 22, 2023
Habituation to cold is the reason the same temperature can feel really cold in the fall and blissfully warm in the late winter.
From New York Times • Dec. 21, 2020
Habituation is when you stop really seeing someone/thing because you see them all the time, ie taking someone for granted, which leads to hating their guts.
From The Guardian • Apr. 16, 2016
Wedemeyer, T. Habituation of the psychic functions to caffein.
From All About Coffee by Ukers, William H. (William Harrison)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
