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MENTAL MODEL · M5760

Habituation

Habituation
BehaviorHigh supportPsychology
Included
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

When a stimulus is presented repeatedly without any rewarding or punishing consequences, the organism's response to it gradually diminishes or even disappears. This is the simplest form of learning: learning to ignore irrelevant information.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Sensory automatic noise reduction. If you nag for a long time without taking action, the other person will become habituated to your voice and completely ignore it. Breaking habituation requires dishabituation—changing the intensity or pattern of the stimulus.

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Anchor fast decisions

After repeated exposure to the same stimulus, the response weakens (sensory/emotional adaptation), which reduces interference but also leads to a dulling effect, as in 'living with a fragrance without noticing it'.

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HabituationZH · Explicit
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