If sensitization is the opposite of habituation, and sensitization is adaptive, would habituation be considered maladaptive? Why or why not?

What will be an ideal response?


Habituation is not maladaptive. During habituation, an animal shows a decrease in response to a given stimulus. This stimulus has been processed and determined to be nonthreatening or insignificant. Because the animal has been habituated to ignore this stimulus, it can fade into the background so the animal can focus on other more
important stimuli. Habituation is adaptive especially in conjunction with sensitization because the animal can differentiate and ignore certain irrelevant stimuli (through habituation) and focus more intently on potentially dangerous stimuli (sensitization).

Anatomy & Physiology

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