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This paper takes inspiration from Books III and IV of the Nicomachean Ethics, which discuss the ways in which the student of virtue can go wrong with respect to different vices. It uses this discussion to draw some conclusions about Aristotelian habituation. I will argue that habituation is an appropriate learning strategy for many kinds of students of virtue, not just children; that habituation is multi-faceted and involves habits of emotions, habits of reason and habits of action; and that habituation is messy because it reflects a messy subject matter. I will conclude with some thoughts on how educators can best respond to this messiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Living systems at any given moment enact a very constrained set of end‐directed and contextually appropriate actions that are self‐initiated from among innumerable possible alternatives. However, these constrained actions are not necessarily because the system has reduced its sensitivities to themselves and their surroundings. Quite the contrary, living systems are continually open to novel and unanticipated stimulations that require a physiology of coordination. To address these competing demands, this paper offers a novel heuristic model informed by neuroscience, systems theory, biology and sign study to explain how organisms situated in diverse, complex and ever‐changing environments might draw upon the sparse order made available by 'relevant noise'. This emergent order facilitates coordination, habituation and, ultimately, understanding of the world and its relevant affordances. Inspired by the burgeoning field of coordination dynamics and physiologist Denis Noble's concept of 'biological relativity', this model proposes a view of coordination on the neuronal level that is neither sequential nor stochastic, but instead implements a causal logic of phasic alignment, such that an organism's learned and inherited sets of diverse biological affinities and sympathies can be resolved into a continuous and complex range of patterns that will implement the kind of novel orientations and radical generativity required of such organisms to adaptively explore their environments and to learn from their experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual reality (VR) technology has been widely adopted for several professional and recreational applications. Despite rapid innovation in hardware and software, one of the long prevailing issues for end users of VR is the experience of VR sickness. Females experience stronger VR sickness compared to males, and previous research has linked susceptibility to VR sickness to the menstrual cycle (Munafo et al., Exp Brain Res 235(3):889–901). Here we investigated the female versus male experience in VR sickness while playing an immersive VR game, comparing days of the menstrual cycle when hormones peak: day 15 (ovulation—peak estrogen) and day 22 (mid-luteal phase—peak progesterone). We found that immersion duration was greater in the second session than the first, and discomfort was lessened, suggesting a powerful adaptation with repeated exposure. Due to the estrogen levels changing along with the exposure, there was no clear independent impact of that; note, though, that there was a significant difference between self-report and physiological measures implying that GSR is potentially an unreliable measure of motion sickness. Although prior work found a delay over 2 days between session would not allow adaptation and habituation to reduce VR sickness susceptibility, we found that a week delay has potential success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interoception is crucial to the experience of bodily complaints in chronic conditions. Fear can distort the perception of sensations like breathlessness and pain, yet few studies investigated the effects of conditioned fear on both self-report and neural processing of these sensations. In the current study, we conditioned fear of neutral female faces in healthy adults, pairing certain faces (CS+) with an aversive scream. In Experiment 1, we delivered paired inspiratory occlusions during the viewing of the faces. We collected self-reported intensity and unpleasantness of occlusions, and measured N1 and P2 amplitudes of the respiratory-related evoked potential (RREP) in the electroencephalogram, as well as neural gating (the ratio of N1 response to the second over the first occlusion, S2/S1). Skin conductance and self-reported fear increased in response to CS+ faces, and perception of occlusions increased during fear conditioning (FC) relative to baseline, with higher unpleasantness and RREP amplitudes during CS+ relative to CS- trials. We found no effects on neural gating. In Experiment 2, we used the same FC protocol, and delivered paired electrocutaneous pulses during the viewing of the faces. We measured intensity/unpleasantness, fear, N1/P2 amplitudes of the somatosensory evoked potential (SEP), and neural gating. While skin conductance and fear increased, no perceptual effects were found. Unexpectedly, SEP amplitudes decreased and neural gating increased during FC, likely due to habituation. The current results indicate that FC increases the perception and neural processing of respiratory stimuli specifically, consistent with previous literature on respiratory psychophysiology and fearful states. • Conditioned fear increases respiratory interoception and neural processing. • These effects appear specific to the respiratory/interoceptive domains. • ERP habituation can confound the effects of prolonged experimental manipulations. • Further research in clinical populations is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to move and maintain posture is critically dependent on motion and orientation information provided by the vestibular system. When this system delivers noisy or erred information it can, in some cases, be attenuated through habituation. Here we investigate whether multiple mechanisms of attenuation act to decrease vestibular gain due to noise added using supra-threshold random-waveform galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS). Forty-five participants completed one of three conditions. Each condition consisted of two 4-min standing periods with stimulation surrounding a 1-h period of either walking with stimulation, walking without stimulation, or sitting quietly. An instrumented treadmill recorded horizontal forces at the feet during standing and walking. We quantified response attenuation to GVS by comparing vestibular stimulus-horizontal force gain between conditions. First stimulus exposure caused an 18% decrease in gain during the first 40 s of standing. Attenuation recommenced only when subjects walked with stimulation, resulting in a 38% decrease in gain over 60 min that did not transfer to standing following walking. The disparity in attenuation dynamics and absent carry over between standing and walking suggests that two mechanisms of attenuation, one associated with first exposure to the stimulus and another that is task specific, may act to decrease vestibulomotor gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cold water immersion (CWI) evokes the life-threatening reflex cold shock response (CSR), inducing hyperventilation, increasing cardiac arrhythmias, and increasing drowning risk by impairing safety behaviour. Repeated CWI induces CSR habituation (i.e., diminishing response with same stimulus magnitude) after ∼4 immersions, with variation between studies. We quantified the magnitude and coefficient of variation (CoV) in the CSR in a systematic review and meta-analysis with search terms entered to Medline, SportDiscus, PsychINFO, Pubmed, and Cochrane Central Register. Random effects meta-analyses, including effect sizes (Cohen's d) from 17 eligible groups (k), were conducted for heart rate (HR, n = 145, k = 17), respiratory frequency (f R , n = 73, k = 12), minute ventilation (V e , n = 106, k = 10) and tidal volume (V t , n = 46, k=6). All CSR variables habituated (p < 0.001) with large or moderate pooled effect sizes: ΔHR -14 (10) bt. min−1 (d : −1.19); Δf R −8 (7) br. min−1 (d : −0.78); ΔV e , −21.3 (9.8) L. min−1 (d : −1.64); ΔV t −0.4 (0.3) L −1. Variation was greatest in V e (control vs comparator immersion: 32.5&24.7%) compared to V t (11.8&12.1%). Repeated CWI induces CSR habituation potentially reducing drowning risk. We consider the neurophysiological and behavioural consequences. • Cold water evokes the cold shock response increasing drowning risk. • Cold shock habituates with four repeated immersions, potentially reducing risk. • The neurophysiological and behavioural components of habituation are explained. • We offer possible mechanisms of adaptation in this under studied response. • This work informs the World Health Organisation's drowning prevention framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to challenge the standard view that Socrates of the early Platonic dialogues is an intellectualist with respect to virtue. Through a detailed analysis of the educational theory laid out in the early dialogues, it will be argued that Socrates believes that the best way to cultivate virtues in his interlocutors is not to convince them of ethical truths by way of reason and argument alone, but to encourage them to participate in the practice of virtue. Habit and practice are essential to the cultivation of virtue because they mould the desires and dispositions of the agent and promote a kind of knowledge that cannot be achieved discursively - craft-knowledge. Only when agents have achieved craft-knowledge can they be counted on to act virtuously on every occasion; and craft-knowledge can only be achieved by way of practice and habituation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Smaller caudal ACC specifically was associated with greater SCR across trials. • Smaller caudal and rostral ACC interacted with PTSD on SCR across trials. • Smaller caudal and rostral ACC interacted with PTSD on SCR over threat conditions. • Smaller caudal ACC appears to be associated with habituation delay. • Small ACC × PTSD interaction is linked to habituation delay and elevated arousal. Abstract Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with fear response system dysregulation. Research has shown that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) may modulate the fear response and that individuals with PTSD have abnormalities in ACC structure and functioning. Our objective was to assess whether ACC volume moderates the relationship between PTSD and fear-potentiated psychophysiological response in a sample of Gulf War Veterans. 142 Veteran participants who were associated with a larger study associated with Gulf War Illness were exposed to no threat, ambiguous threat, and high threat conditions in a fear conditioned startle response paradigm and also provided MRI imaging data. PTSD was assessed using the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS). Decreased caudal ACC volume predicted greater psychophysiological responses with a slower habituation of psychophysiological magnitudes across trials (p < 0.001). PTSD diagnosis interacted significantly with both caudal and rostral ACC volumes on psychophysiological response magnitudes, where participants with PTSD and smaller rostral and caudal ACC volumes had greater psychophysiological magnitudes across trials (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively) and threat conditions (p < 0.05 and p < 0.005). Our results suggest that ACC volume may moderate both threat sensitivity and threat response via impaired habituation in individuals who have been exposed to traumatic events. More research is needed to assess whether ACC size and these associated response patterns are due to neurological processes resulting from trauma exposure or if they are indicative of a premorbid risk for PTSD subsequent to trauma exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arid-zone birds trade-off dehydration and hyperthermia during hot weather, as they are dependent on evaporative cooling when air temperature approaches or exceeds body temperature. Water points in many arid ecosystems become surrounded by piospheres, exposing drinking birds to high radiant heat loads and exacerbating this trade-off. This challenge will be aggravated under climate warming. One possible mitigation approach is to reduce heat loads birds experience when seeking water. We experimentally shaded water points on farmland in the Kalahari. We used a Before–After Control–Impact design to assess the impact of artificial shade on species, visitation rates and visitation patterns of drinking birds. The number of species drinking was not affected by the introduction of shade, but overall visitation rates declined, despite a habituation period prior to data collection and increased use of shaded water points during the heat of the day. Of the ten most common species, one –the smallest species in the study - significantly increased and four significantly reduced visitation rates to experimentally shaded water points. Providing shade benefited few species overall, perhaps because of increased perceived predation risk. Future work should investigate the impacts of shader design in order to develop this method as a conservation tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linguistic register reflects changes in speech that depend on the situation, especially the status of listeners and listener-speaker relationships. Following the sociolinguistic rules of register is essential in establishing and maintaining social interactions. Recent research suggests that children over 3 years of age can understand appropriate register-listener relationships as well as the fact that people change register depending on their listeners. However, given previous findings that infants under 2 years of age have already formed both social and speech categories, it may be possible that even younger children can also understand appropriate register-listener relationships. The present study used Infant-Directed Speech (IDS) and formal Adult-Directed Speech (ADS) to examine whether 20-month-old toddlers can understand register-listener relationships. In Experiment 1, we used a violation-of-expectation method to examine whether 20-month-olds understand the individual associations between linguistic registers and listeners. Results showed that the toddlers looked significantly longer at a scene in which the adult was talked to in IDS than when the infant was talked to in IDS. In contrast, there was no difference when the adult and the infant were talked to in formal ADS. In Experiments 2 and 3, we used a habituation switch paradigm to examine whether 20-month-olds understand the abstract rule that a change of register depends on listeners rather than on speakers. Results showed that the toddlers looked significantly longer at the scene where the register rule was violated. The present findings provide new evidence that even 20-month-olds already understand that people change their way of speaking based on listeners, although their understanding of individual register-listener relationships is immature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The main aims of the study were to examine whether human neonates’ responses to communication disturbance modelled by the still-face paradigm were stable and whether their responses were affected by their previous experience with the still-face paradigm. Methods: The still face procedure, as a laboratory model of interpersonal stress, was administered repeatedly, twice, to 84 neonates (0 to 4 day olds), with a delay of an average of 1.25 day. Results: Frame-by-frame analysis of the frequency and duration of gaze, distressed face, crying, sleeping and sucking behaviours showed that the procedure was stressful to them both times, that is, the still face effect was stable after repeated administration and newborns consistently responded to such nonverbal violation of communication. They averted their gaze, showed distress and cried more during the still-face phase in both the first and the second administration. They also showed a carry-over effect in that they continued to avert their gaze and displayed increased distress and crying in the first reunion period, but their gaze behaviour changed with experience, in the second administration. While in the first administration the babies continued averting their gaze even after the stressful still-face phase was over, this carry-over effect disappeared in the second administration, and the babies significantly increased their gaze following the still-face phase. Conclusion: After excluding explanations of fatigue, habituation and random effects, a self-other regulatory model is discussed as a possible explanation for this pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed at developing habituation learning model to build Surakartan young learners' character, by using research and development (R & D) procedure including: 1) preliminary study, managed through observation, interview and documentation, to identify problems and the needs in habituation learning model, in order to build certain proper characters, 2) model/prototype development of among (asah asih asuh (A3)) system (education (among) system that includes the process of educating (asah) loving (asih) and caring (asuh))-based habituation learning model to build students' character that includes some validation tests by experts and practitioners. It is then followed by limited and extensive trials, aimed at finding the feasibility of the model. Data are obtained through interview, observation, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD), and analyzed by using percentage and reflective description, and 3) the effectiveness test for the model aimed at finding the effectiveness level of the habituation learning model to improve the character building. Data are obtained through observation and test. Within the tests, data are analyzed by using quantitative analysis of t test or so called comparative test, with the experimental design: One Group Pre-test - Post-test Design. The study is conducted at Kindergartens in Surakarta along the academic year of 2013/2014. The study shows that: 1) the preliminary study gives some description on the implementation of recent habituation learning model used in building kindergarten students' character. 2) the model development generates a prototype of a child which is very feasible to be trialled, considering that the activities and teacher's performance show a quite high improvement. 3) The effectiveness test also shows that the among (asah asih asuh (A3)) system-based habituation learning model through playing games can create a qualified teaching learning process that can build students' character with a significant difference, i.e. - 16.717 at the level of 0.05% at the first test and - 28.030 at the level of 0.05% at the second test. From the test on the "gain score", it is known that the difference between the "pre test" and "post test" at the second effectiveness test (M=17.33) is higher than the difference of "pre test" and "post test" at the first effectiveness test (M=13.13). The two score also show that the second effectiveness test has a higher changes compared to the first one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cellular and molecular basis of long-term memory in vertebrates remains poorly understood. Knowledge regarding long-term memory has been impeded by the enormous complexity of the vertebrate brain, particularly the mammalian brain, as well as by the relative complexity of the behavioral alterations examined in most studies of long-term memory in vertebrates. Here, we demonstrate a long-term form of nonassociative learning—specifically, long-term habituation (LTH)—of a simple reflexive escape response, the C-start, in zebrafish larvae. The C-start is triggered by the activation of one of a pair of giant neurons in the zebrafish’s hindbrain, the Mauthner cells. We show that LTH of the C-start requires the activity of NMDA receptors and involves macromolecular synthesis. We further show that the long-term habituated reflex can by rapidly dishabituated by a brief tactile stimulus. Our results set the stage for rigorous, mechanistic investigations of the long-term memory for habituation of a reflexive behavioral response, one that is mediated by a relatively simple, neurobiologically tractable, neural circuit. Moreover, the demonstration of NMDAR and transcriptionally dependent LTH in a translucent vertebrate organism should facilitate the use of optical recording, and optogenetic manipulation, of neuronal activity to elucidate the cellular basis of a long-term vertebrate memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To compare neurophysiological parameters of central nervous system excitability in healthy children/adolescents with those of healthy adults.Method: Two experimental protocols were used in 19 healthy children/adolescents (10 males and 9 females, mean age 9y 11mo [SD 2y 9mo], range 5-15y) and 19 healthy adults (8 males and 11 females, mean age 36y 6mo [SD 7y 9mo], range 27-51y). First, we administered repetitive trains of innocuous electrical stimulation of the median nerve and analysed habituation (progressive attenuation) of the cervical and cortical responses. Second, we administered several blocks of two closely timed electrical innocuous stimuli of the median nerve (with interstimulus intervals set at 5, 10, and 20ms in each block) and analysed the recovery index (the percentage of the response to the second stimulus with respect to that to the first).Results: Clear-cut neurophysiological signs of cortical hyper-excitability were found in children/adolescents but not in adults. In contrast with the adults, the children/adolescents did not attenuate cortical responses to repetitive stimulation, and presented with extremely shortened recovery cycle. At baseline, both groups presented with comparable cortical responses.Interpretation: Healthy children/adolescents present cortical hyper-excitability compared with healthy adults. These findings agree with previous findings that show an overall imbalance of excitatory and inhibitory neuronal and neurochemical mechanisms in favour of excitatory ones, in the healthy developing cerebral cortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensory specific satiety (SSS) describes the decline in pleasantness associated with a food as it is eaten relative to a food that has not been eaten (the 'eaten' and 'uneaten' foods, respectively). The prevailing view is that SSS is governed by habituation. Nevertheless, the extent to which SSS results solely from this 'low-level' process remains unclear. Three experiments were conducted to explore the hypothesis that 'top-down' cognitive activity affects the expression of SSS; specifically, we manipulated participants' expectations about whether or not they would have access to alternative test foods (uneaten foods) after consuming a test meal (eaten food). This manipulation was motivated by 'Commodity Theory,' which describes the relative increase in value of a commodity when it becomes unavailable. We tested the hypothesis that a decline in the pleasantness and desire to eat the eaten food is exaggerated when uneaten foods are unavailable to participants. None of our findings supported this proposition - we found no evidence that SSS is dependent on top-down processes associated with the availability of other uneaten test foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflexes are often insuppressible, predictable, and susceptible to external control. In contrast, conscious thoughts have been regarded as whimsical, ‘offline,’ and shielded from external control. Recent advances suggest that conscious thoughts are more reflex-like and susceptible to external control than previously thought. In one paradigm, high-level conscious thoughts (subvocalizations) are triggered by external control, as a function of external stimuli and experimenter-induced action sets. It has been hypothesized that these conscious contents are activated involuntarily and in a reflex-like manner. If such is the case, then these activations should possess a well-known property of the reflex: habituation. Accordingly, we found that involuntary high-level cognitions (subvocalizations) habituated (i.e., were less likely to arise) after repeated stimulation. As in the case of the habituation of a reflex, this novel effect was stimulus-specific. We discuss the implications of this finding for theories about consciousness and about psychopathological phenomena involving undesired, involuntary cognitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has used the cardiac orienting response (OR) to show that structural changes in the auditory environment cause people to briefly but automatically pay attention to messages such as radio broadcasts, podcasts, and web streaming. The voice change—an example of an auditory structural feature—elicits orienting across multiple repetitions. This article reports two experiments designed to investigate whether automatic attention allocation to repeated instances of other auditory structural features—namely production effects, jingles, and silence—is a robust phenomenon or if repetition leads to habituation. In Study 1 we show that listeners of a simulated radio broadcast exhibit ORs following the onset of auditory structural features that differ in semantic content. The prediction that listeners would not habituate to feature repetition was not supported. Instead, both jingles and synthesized production effects result in more iconic ORs to the second repetition compared with the first. However, orienting significantly diminished following the third repetition of both. Study 2 replicates this result using multiple repetitions of structural features containing identical semantic content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large carnivores may become dangerous if they habituate to humans. We repeatedly approached wild wolves Canis lupus throughout a year to test their individual response to human encounters ( N = 141 trials). None of the at least 25 wolves present during the study visually or vocally exposed themselves. The wolves fled at a mean distance of 248 ± SE 11 m (range, 35-488 m). Their tolerance was most strongly influenced by the presence of site-dependent pups, while the distance at which they were initially alerted was most strongly influenced by detectability of human (wind and noise). The mean alert distance was 324 ± 19 m in the first and 264 ± 17 m in subsequent within-day trials, while tolerance distances showed no such trend, neither within a day nor throughout the year. The study indicates a high level of individual plasticity, making habituation difficult to predict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both exaggerated and diminished levels of cardiovascular reactivity have been associated with cardiovascular ill health. Dysregulation of hemodynamic mechanisms which control cardiovascular functioning may account for some individual differences in health outcomes. Trait dominance has also been associated with poor cardiovascular health in studies of humans and animals. The current study investigated the relationship between trait dominance and cardiovascular habituation to repeated social stress in humans. Forty-seven undergraduate women completed two consecutive speech tasks, preceded by a baseline period, and separated by an inter-task resting phase. Continuous cardiovascular functioning was monitored using the Finometer device. The trait dominance subscale of the Jackson Personality Research Form was completed. Mixed ANCOVA with trait dominance revealed a significant 3 (dominance)×4 (phase) interaction for total peripheral resistance (TPR), such that TPR varied across experimental phases and was associated with trait dominance, F(1, 43)=12.88, p =.001, partial η2 =.23. Further mixed ANCOVA for TPR reactivity to Exposures 1 and 2 revealed a significant 3×2 interaction with trait dominance, F(2, 40)=7.77, p =.001, partial η2 =.28, such that higher dominance was associated with attenuated TPR habituation to Exposure 2. Trait dominance was significantly associated with vascular-oriented cardiovascular functioning, and with attenuated habituation to social stress. Vascular-dominated stress responses have in some instances been associated with ill-health, suggesting that a failure to habituate to stress, and a vascular response style could reflect potential mechanisms through which dominance is associated with poor future cardiovascular health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to study whether real angry faces do capture attention to the extent of overcoming the inhibition of return (IOR) effect and whether the anxiety level of participants modulates this effect by stressing biases toward threatening stimuli. With this purpose, participants categorized the emotional valence of face targets in a standard spatial cueing procedure suitable to measure IOR. In Experiment 1, participants were selected according to their high vs. low-trait anxiety, whereas in Experiment 2 participants were induced a positive vs. anxiety mood state. The typical IOR effect was observed with neutral and happy face targets, which disappeared with angry face targets. Similar results were observed for all anxiety groups and in both experiments. The results indicate that IOR is overridden when the target is a biologically relevant angry face, as highly relevant targets should suffer less from habituation to attentional capture regardless of anxiety. We suggest that these data show that attentional capture is less likely to habituate for threatening information, so that no cost is measured in detecting new threatening information appearing at recently cued locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with anxiety disorders have previously demonstrated abnormal habituation to aversiveness over time. As anxiety sensitivity (AS), or an individuals' propensity to fear of anxiety-related sensations, has been shown to be a risk factor for anxiety disorders (particularly panic disorder), the present study examined whether AS was also associated with abnormal habituation. This association was examined in two independent samples of undergraduates (Ntotal=178). Habituation was operationalised as the reduction in startle response to multiple startle probes presented over 2.5 minutes and three definitions of this reduction were employed. Results indicated that individuals with higher levels of AS evidenced deficits in startle habituation, but the strength of this relationship was somewhat dependent on the definition of startle habituation, with the most robust definition being an analysis of participants' individual slopes across all nine blinks. The present findings suggest that startle habituation is a key mechanism underlying AS, and may help elucidate the role this risk factor plays in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper we propose an integrative model of habituation of reinforcer effectiveness (HRE) that links behavioral- and neural-based explanations of reinforcement. We argue that HRE is a fundamental property of reinforcing stimuli. Most reinforcement models implicitly suggest that the effectiveness of a reinforcer is stable across repeated presentations. In contrast, an HRE approach predicts decreased effectiveness due to repeated presentation. We argue that repeated presentation of reinforcing stimuli decreases their effectiveness and that these decreases are described by the behavioral characteristics of habituation (McSweeney and Murphy, 2009; Rankin et al., 2009). We describe a neural model that postulates a positive association between dopamine neurotransmission and HRE. We present evidence that stimulant drugs, which artificially increase dopamine neurotransmission, disrupt (slow) normally occurring HRE and also provide evidence that stimulant drugs have differential effects on operant responding maintained by reinforcers with rapid vs. slowHRE rates. We hypothesize that abnormal HRE due to genetic and/or environmental factors may underlie some behavioral disorders. For example, recent research indicates that slow-HRE is predictive of obesity. In contrast ADHD may reflect "accelerated-HRE." Consideration of HRE is important for the development of effective reinforcement-based treatments. Finally, we point out that most of the reinforcing stimuli that regulate daily behavior are nonconsumable environmental/social reinforcers which have rapid-HRE. The almost exclusive use of consumable reinforcers with slow-HRE in pre-clinical studies with animals may have caused the importance of HRE to be overlooked. Further study of reinforcing stimuli with rapid-HRE is needed in order to understand how habituation and reinforcement interact and regulate behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mice, the specificity of longterm-habituation (LTH) of startle was tested in two experiments. In two strains of mice (C57Bl/6 and C3H) there was pronounced LTH over 10 days of acoustic stimulation in two different contexts of startle measurement. (We found LTH to be greater after stimulation with 14 kHz sine stimuli compared to noise or tactile stimuli). A change of context showed LTH to be independent of context, i.e., startle LTH in mice is a non-associative learning process. In the second experiment, 9 days of acoustic or tactile stimulation were given to C57B/6 mice. Both stimulus modalities produced LTH. When on the 10th day stimuli of the other modality were given, in both cases the long term habituated group showed no lower startle amplitude than a non-stimulated control group. This indicates LTH is stimulus-modality specific. Altogether, our results show that in mice-very similar to rats-LTH of startle is stimulus modality, but not context specific. In addition we found two indications that the LTH action site is on the sensory branch of the startle circuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Asymmetrical loading changes non-visual navigation along a triangle. [•] Loading causes both: angular and linear deviations. [•] Clockwise and counterclockwise locomotion patterns depend on the loaded shoulder. [•] There is habituation effect as well as unloading effect. [•] This testing has potentials to be of benefit for revealing subclinical pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We describe an object recognition memory (ORM) task for rabbits based on scent-marking. [•] NMDA antagonists disrupt ORM when administered prior to the sample phase. [•] Short-term habituation and sensitization underlie ORM in the present paradigm. [•] Tactile, but not olfactory novelty sensitizes rabbit scent-marking behavior. [•] Habituation and sensitization modulate the expression of scent-marking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: Existing work using dry land exercise-related activities has shown that the careful application of music can lead to a range of benefits that include enhanced affect, lower perceived exertion, greater energy efficiency, and faster time trial performances. The purpose of this study was to assess the psychological, psychophysical, and ergogenic effects of asynchronous music in swimming using a mixed-methods approach. Design: A mixed-model design was employed wherein there was a within-subjects factor (two experimental conditions and a control) and a between-subjects factor (gender). The experimental component of the study was supplemented by qualitative data that were analysed using inductive content analysis. Methods: Twenty six participants (M age = 20.0 years, age range: 18–23 years) underwent a period of habituation with Speedo Aquabeat MP3 players prior to the experimental phase. They were then administered two experimental trials (motivational and oudeterous music at 130 bpm) and a no-music control, during which they engaged in a 200-m freestyle swimming time trial. Results: Participants swam significantly faster when exposed to either music condition relative to control (p = .022, ). Moreover, the music conditions were associated with higher state motivation (p = .016, ) and more dissociative thoughts (p = .014, ). Conclusions: Findings supported the hypothesis that the use of asynchronous music during a high-intensity task can have an ergogenic effect; this was in the order of 2% when averaged out across the two experimental conditions. The use of music, regardless of its motivational qualities, resulted in higher self-reported motivation as well as more dissociative thoughts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Traditionally, research studies on the formation of equivalence classes in verbally able individuals are conducted using arbitrary stimuli and a matching- to-sample procedure. However, a higher-than-criterion performance in equivalence tests is not usually observed in all participants of these studies. These data are not often interpreted and the implied variability in the acquisition of derived relations in humans is seldom discussed. The purpose of this study is to examine whether habituation to the stimulating conditions of the experimental preparation may account - at least partially - for low performances observed in equivalence tests. Results of participants in a group exposed to a respondent matching-to-sample procedure were compared to those of a group exposed to a similar procedure with an added observation response requirement on some of the training trials. Visual inspection of the data shows that a higher number of participants in the second group obtained above-criterion performances. Some additional theoretical and procedural implications are discussed based on the analysis of participants' verbal reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habituation-the response decrement to repetitively presented stimulation-is a basic cognitive capability and suited to investigate development and integrity of the human brain. To evaluate the developmental process of auditory habituation, the current study used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate auditory habituation, dishabituation and stimulus specificity in children and adults and compared the results between age groups. Twenty-nine children (Mage = 9.69 years, SD ± 0.47) and 14 adults (Mage = 29.29 years, SD ± 3.47) participated in the study and passively listened to a habituation paradigm consisting of 100 trains of tones which were composed of five 500 Hz tones, one 750 Hz tone (dishabituator) and another two 500 Hz tones, respectively while focusing their attention on a silent movie. Adults showed the expected habituation and stimulus specificity within-trains while no response decrement was found between trains. Sensory adaptation or fatigue as a source for response decrement in adults is unlikely due to the strong reaction to the dishabituator (stimulus specificity) and strong mismatch negativity (MMN) responses. However, in children neither habituation nor dishabituation or stimulus specificity could be found within-trains, response decrement was found across trains. It can be speculated that the differences between children and adults are linked to differences in stimulus processing due to attentional processes. This study shows developmental differences in task-related brain activation and discusses the possible influence of broader concepts such as attention, which should be taken into account when comparing performance in an identical task between age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of two exposure procedures on habituation of emotional responses to food stimuli: (a) exposure to external cues (food images) without eating forbidden food (CE) and (b) exposure to external cues eating forbidden food (with purge prevention). The influence of craving-trait and mood state on the habituation process is also studied. Method: Emotional modulation of the defense startle reflex was assessed in 26 women at risk of bulimia nervosa. After four exposure trials, changes in the following variables were measured: (a) food craving-state; (b) physiological measures: hearth rate (HR) and skin conductance response (SCR); (c) motivational patterns towards food (defense startle response); and (d) valence, arousal and dominance of the emotional response to food images. Results: After treatment, subjects tended to show non-significant lower SCR and heart orientation responses (vs. defense responses); defense startle response was also significantly lower. Conclusions: The exposure procedure, the induced emotional state and the number of exposure trials are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Startle habituation is present in all startle studies, whether as a dependent variable, discarded habituation block, or ignored nuisance. However, there is still much that remains unknown about startle habituation, including the following: (1) what is the nature of the startle habituation curve?; (2) at what point does startle habituation approach an asymptote?; and (3) are there gender differences in startle habituation? The present study investigated these three questions in a sample of 94 undergraduates using both traditional means-based statistical methods and latent curve modeling. Results provided new information about the nature of the startle habituation curve, indicated that the optimal number of habituation trials with a 100dB startle stimulus is 13, and showed that females display greater startle reactivity but habituate toward the same level as males. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objective: The hedonic value of odors is reflected in chemosensory evoked potentials with more salient unpleasant odors being processed differently from pleasant odors. However, it is not known if this effect is stable over time. It was examined if chemosensory evoked potentials towards pleasant and unpleasant odors change with repeated presentation. Methods: 42 participants received two pleasant (Peach and PEA) and one unpleasant (H2S) intensity matched odors in a block design. Intensity and pleasantness were rated after each presentation. Subjective ratings, as well as N1 and P2 of the first stimulus of each block were compared with the two following stimuli of each block. Results: Early and late components of the chemosensory evoked potentials had shorter latencies in response to the unpleasant H2S compared to PEA and Peach. Pleasantness ratings for H2S increased with repeated presentation but were far below neutral even for the third stimulus in a row. In line with this, for H2S only, the P2 amplitude diminished with repeated presentation. Conclusion: We assume that unpleasant stimuli catch more attention first hand. However, repeated presentation leads to reduced emotional salience of unpleasant stimuli only, which is mirrored in a decrease of neuronal activation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Cold immersion evokes the life-threatening cold shock response (CSR). We hypothesised that anxiety may increase the magnitude of (Study 1), and diminish habituation to (Study 2), the CSR. Study 1: eleven participants completed two 7-min immersions in cold water (15 °C). On one occasion, to induce anxiety, participants were instructed that the water would be 5 °C colder (ANX); it was unchanged. The other immersion was a control (CON). Study 2: ten different participants completed seven, 7-min immersions. Immersions 1-5 induced habituation. Immersions 6 and 7 were counter-balanced to produce anxiety (ANX) or acted as a control (CON). Anxiety (20 cm scale) and cardiorespiratory responses (cardiac frequency [ f]), respiratory frequency [ f], tidal volume [V], minute ventilation [ $$ \dot{V}_{\text{E}} $$]) were measured in both studies. Results of study 1: participants were more anxious in the ANX immersion (mean [SD]; CON 5.3 [3.6] and ANX 8.4 [5.0] cm). f peaked at higher levels in ANX (136.4 [15.0]; CON: 124.0 [17.6] b min) and was higher pre-immersion and in minutes 3 and 5-7 by 7.2 [2.1] b min. ANX $$ \dot{V}_{\text{E}} $$ was higher pre immersion and in minutes 5-6. Results of study 2: repeated immersion habituated the CSR. Anxiety was greater prior to ANX (CON 1.9 [2.3], ANX 6.6 [4.8] cm). f in ANX was higher prior to immersion and in minutes 1-2, 4-6 cf CON; ANX f was not different to the CSR seen in pre-habituation. f was higher in minute 1 of immersion 1 (cf min 1 CON and ANX) following which it exceeded the CSR in CON. The magnitude and duration of CSR ( f, $$ \dot{V}_{\text{E}} $$) increased with anxiety. Anxiety diminishes CSR habituation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Analysis of habituation patterns in patients wi+ primary headache disorders allows +e detection of changes to +e excitability level of +e trigeminal nociceptive system. Previous studies demonstrated a habituation deficit to painful stimuli in migraine and it was suggested +at similar observations could be made in cluster headache (CH). Me+ods: Habituation of +e ''nociceptive'' blink reflex (nBR) (R2 response) was studied in 66 CH patients (18 episodic CH inside bout, 28 episodic CH outside bout, 20 chronic CH) as well as in 30 heal+y controls in a case-control study design. Results: Habituation behaviour was similar in CH and heal+y controls as well as in CH subtypes. No side-to-side differences of habituation between headache side and non-headache side were detected. Conclusion: Our results did not detect an altered habituation in CH patients. Despite clinical similarities, migraine and CH seem not to share +e same pa+ophysiological mechanisms in +is regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The term “sensory reinforcer” has been used to refer to sensory stimuli (e.g. light onset) that are primary reinforcers in order to differentiate them from other more biologically important primary reinforcers (e.g. food and water). Acquisition of snout poke responding for a visual stimulus (5s light onset) with fixed ratio 1 (FR 1), variable-interval 1min (VI 1min), or variable-interval 6min (VI 6min) schedules of reinforcement was tested in three groups of rats (n =8/group). The VI 6min schedule of reinforcement produced a higher response rate than the FR 1 or VI 1min schedules of visual stimulus reinforcement. One explanation for greater responding on the VI 6min schedule relative to the FR 1 and VI 1min schedules is that the reinforcing effectiveness of light onset habituated more rapidly in the FR 1 and VI 1min groups as compared to the VI 6min group. The inverse relationship between response rate and the rate of visual stimulus reinforcement is opposite to results from studies with biologically important reinforcers which indicate a positive relationship between response and reinforcement rate. Rapid habituation of reinforcing effectiveness may be a fundamental characteristic of sensory reinforcers that differentiates them from biologically important reinforcers, which are required to maintain homeostatic balance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The mismatch negativity (MMN) is thought to index the activation of specialized neural networks for active prediction and deviance detection. However, a detailed neuronal model of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying theMMNis still lacking, and its computational foundations remaindebated.Wepropose here a detailed neuronalmodelof auditory cortex, basedonpredictive coding, that accounts for the critical features of MMN. The model is entirely composed of spiking excitatory and inhibitory neurons interconnected in a layered cortical architecture with distinct input, predictive, and prediction error units. A spike-timing dependent learning rule, relying uponNMDAreceptor synaptic transmission, allows the network to adjust its internal predictions and use a memory of the recent past inputs to anticipate on future stimuli based on transition statistics.Wedemonstrate that this simple architecture can account for the major empirical properties of the MMN. These include a frequency-dependent response to rare deviants, a response to unexpected repeats in alternating sequences (ABABAA. . . ), a lack of consideration of the global sequence context, a response to sound omission, and a sensitivity of theMMNtoNMDAreceptor antagonists. Novel predictions are presented, and a new magnetoencephalography experiment in healthy human subjects is presented that validates our key hypothesis: theMMNresults from active cortical prediction rather than passive synaptic habituation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhibition of Return (IOR) is one of the most consistent and widely studied effects in experimental psychology. The effect refers to a delayed response to visual stimuli in a cued location after initial priming at that location. This article presents a dynamic field model for IOR. The model describes the evolution of three coupled activation fields. The decision field, inspired by the intermediate layer of the superior colliculus, receives endogenous input and input from a sensory field. The sensory field, inspired by earlier sensory processing, receives exogenous input. Habituation of the sensory field is implemented by a reciprocal coupling with a third field, the habituation field. The model generates IOR because, due to the habituation of the sensory field, the decision field receives a reduced target-induced input in cue-target-compatible situations. The model is consistent with single-unit recordings of neurons of monkeys that perform IOR tasks. Such recordings have revealed that IOR phenomena parallel the activity of neurons in the intermediate layer of the superior colliculus and that neurons in this layer receive reduced input in cue-target-compatible situations. The model is also consistent with behavioral data concerning temporal expectancy effects. In a discussion, the multi-layer dynamic field account of IOR is used to illustrate the broader view that behavior consists of a tuning of the organism to the environment that continuously and concurrently takes place at different spatiotemporal scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated a profound lack of habituation in 129P3 mice compared to the habituating, but initially more anxious, BALB/c mice. The present study investigated whether this non-adaptive phenotype of 129P3 mice is primarily based on anxiety-related characteristics. Methods: To test this hypothesis and extend our knowledge on the behavioural profile of 129P3 mice, the effects of the anxiolyticdiazepam (1, 3 and 5 mg/kg) and the putative anxiolytic metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGlu5R) antagonist 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP, 3, 10 and 30 mg/kg) treatment on within-trial (intrasession) habituation, object recognition (diazepam: 1 mg/kg; MPEP 10 mg/kg) and on the central-nervous expression of the immediate early gene c-Fos (diazepam: 1 mg/kg; MPEP 10 mg/kg) were investigated. Results: Behavioural findings validated the initially high, but habituating phenotype of BALB/c mice, while 129P3 mice were characterized by impaired intrasession habituation. Diazepam had an anxiolytic effect in BALB/c mice, while in higher doses caused behavioural inactivity in 129P3 mice. MPEP revealed almost no anxiolytic effects on behaviour in both strains, but reduced stress-induced corticosterone responses only in 129P3 mice. These results were complemented by reduced expression of c-Fos after MPEP treatment in brain areas related to emotional processes, and increased c-Fos expression in higher integrating brain areas such as the prelimbic cortex compared to vehicle-treated 129P3 mice. Conclusions: These results suggest that the strain differences observed in (non)adaptive anxiety behaviour are at least in part mediated by differences in gamma-aminobutyric acid- A and mGluR5 mediated transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Caffeine has been shown to modulate cerebral blood flow, with little evidence of tolerance to these effects following habitual use. However, previous studies have focused on caffeine levels much higher than those found in dietary servings and have compared high caffeine consumers with low consumers rather than ‘non-consumers’. The current placebo-controlled double-blind, balanced-crossover study employed near infrared spectroscopy to monitor pre-frontal cerebral-haemodynamics at rest and during completion of tasks that activate the pre-frontal cortex. Twenty healthy young habitual and non-habitual consumers of caffeine received 75mg caffeine or placebo. Caffeine significantly decreased cerebral blood flow but this was subject to a significant interaction with consumption status, with no significant effect being shown in habitual consumers and an exaggerated effect in non-habitual consumers. These findings suggest that caffeine, at levels typically found in a single dietary serving, is able to modulate cerebral blood flow but these effects are subject to tolerance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The effects of a daytime nap on inter-session habituation to aversive visual stimuli were investigated. Healthy young adult volunteers viewed repeated presentations of highly negative and emotionally neutral (but equally arousing) International Affective Picture System (IAPS) photographs during two afternoon sessions separated by 2.5h. Half of the photographs were shown at both sessions (Repeated Sets) and half differed between sessions (Novel Sets). For each stimulus presentation, evoked skin conductance response (SCR), heart-rate deceleration (HRD) and corrugator supercilii EMG response (EMG), were computed and range corrected using respective maximum session-1 responses. Following each presentation, subjects rated each photograph on dimensions of pleasantness and arousability. During the inter-session interval, Nap subjects had a 120-min polysomnographically monitored sleep opportunity, whereas Wake subjects watched a non-stimulating video. Nap and Wake subjects did not differ in their subjective ratings of photographs. However, for Repeated-Set photographs, Nap subjects demonstrated greater inter-session habituation in SCR and EMG but a trend toward lesser inter-session habituation in HRD. These group differences were absent for Novel-Set photographs. Group differences across all measures were greater for negative stimuli. Occurrence of SWS during the nap was associated with greater inter-session habituation of EMG whereas occurrence of REM was associated with lesser inter-session habituation of SCR to negative stimuli. Sleep may therefore promote emotional adjustment at the level of somatic responses. Physiological but not subjective inter-session habituation to aversive images was enhanced by a daytime nap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To check the existence of an association between the presence/absence of the blink reflex habituation in the neonatal period and auditory processing development. Methods: The occurrence of blink reflex habituation was studied in 33 neurologically normal neonates, aged between 9 and 25 months, who had their behavioral responses analyzed and classified according to Azevedo (1993). Habituation of the blink reflex was verified using 90-dB sound stimulus. The stage of auditory processing development was evaluated through 41-dB sound stimulus. Statistical data were analyzed with Fischer and χ2 tests. Results: Out of the 33 studied children, 22 presented blink reflex habituation in the first stage of the study. In 7 of them, the auditory processing stage matched their chronological age, while in 15 of them the auditory processing stage was not in accordance with their chronological age. Eleven children failed to present habituation of the blink reflex in the first stage of the study. From this group, eight children presented auditory responses that were appropriate to their chronological age, whereas three had inappropriate responses. A statistically significant association between the presence of blink reflex habituation and auditory processing delay was verified, in addition to an association between the absence of the blink reflex habituation and chronologically suitable responses. Conclusions: The presence of blink reflex habituation in the neonatal period does not seem to be a predictive factor of suitable auditory processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We present a paradigm for assessing visuospatial working memory and skill learning in a rodent model, based on the place avoidance test. In our allothetic place avoidance alternation task (APAAT) the paradigm is comprised of minimal training sessions, tests various aspects of learning and memory and provides a rich set of parameters. A single working memory session consists of four conditions: habituation (no shock), two place avoidance training intervals (shock activated) and a retrieval test (shock inactivated). The location of the shock sector is alternated for each training day which initially requires extinction of previous representations and further working memory to achieve effective place avoidance across sessions. Visuospatial skill memory was evaluated by the shock/entrance ratio by tracking locomotor activity which is essential to execute a place avoidance strategy. For each day rats learned to avoid a new place with shock, as shown by a decreased number of entrances, and an increased time to the first entrance and maximum avoidance time. Skill learning improved according to the decreased number of shocks per entrance across conditions. These results indicate that complex cognitive functions are captured by this behavioral method. This APAAT paradigm expands and complements existing tools for studying hippocampal-prefrontal dependent functions to support development of treatment interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Some have suggested that people who join emergency-services professions have a unique set of personality and response characteristics that allow them to manage the intense stressors of their particular jobs. The nature of personality and response profiles of individuals from different emergency-services professions could have both clinical and policy implications. The present study examined self-reported personality traits of police and firefighter recruits, as well as their psychophysiological response patterns during a loud-tone procedure. Police recruits scored higher than firefighters on gregariousness, a facet of Extraversion, and on dutifulness and deliberation, facets of Conscientiousness. Compared to a normative sample, police and firefighters both scored higher on excitement-seeking, a facet of Extraversion. Comparisons with psychophysiological data from a non-rescuer sample suggest that the firefighter recruits exhibited higher heart rate and skin conductance (SC) levels, while police recruits showed larger eyeblink electromyogram (EMG) startle responses and required more trials to reach SC habituation criteria. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

From an evolutionary perspective, it may be advantageous not only to unconsciously react to emotionally threatening stimuli but also to habituate to these if they should prove harmless. A major purpose of the study was to test for the occurrence of this precognitive affective habituation at a subliminal level using emotionally loaded pictures. The design chosen here enabled us to evaluate whether or not participants habituated to emotionally loaded pictures and to see if they reacted selectively to just those target pictures that would later be repeatedly exposed, thus becoming potentially less threatening. It was further hypothesized that both the subliminal and the precognitive effects would relate to individual measures of emotional reactivity and transliminality. Fifty participants took part in the two successive computer steered procedures in order to respectively evaluate these aspects. A significant habituation effect was found for the negatively loaded targets. The overall findings failed to show a significant discrimination between those pictures than would be re-presented and those that were not. However, by selecting out the 34 individuals who showed affective habituation, a post hoc significant effect of precognitive habitation was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustic startle response and its plasticity, e.g., habituation and prepulse inhibition (PPI), have been extensively investigated, being altered in several neuropsychiatric disorders. Yet, little is known about the expression of startle-related behaviors during adolescence, a critical phase in the development of a variety of major neuropsychiatric pathologies. The present study investigated for the first time startle behaviors across adolescence in male mice of the inbred strains C57BL/6J and DBA/2J. Pre-pubertal (4 weeks of age) mice displayed reduced startle reactivity and altered PPI compared to adult animals (8 weeks of age), but these effects were observed only in the C57BL/6J strain. Strain differences were also clearly detected for startle response, habituation, and PPI. All effects were modulated by the intensity of the pulse stimulus and were not confounded by differences in anxiety levels. Our data demonstrate that genetic factors and the early adolescent phase are critically important considerations in the design of mouse models of neuropsychiatric disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. Psychophysiological factors in maintaining tinnitus-related distress have been emphasized in current tinnitus models. Hyperreactivity in the autonomous nervous system is supposed to hinder habituation processes and might contribute to maladjustment to tinnitus symptoms in the long run. Accordingly, biofeedback treatment targeting physiological activity ought to reduce tinnitus annoyance and facilitate habituation. Subjects. One hundred and thirty patients completed a manual-based psychological treatment especially developed for chronic tinnitus sufferers. A subsample consisting of 67 participants were randomly assigned to a waiting list (3 months) and served as a control group. The programme consisted of 15 sessions of cognitive-behavioural therapy combined with a psychophysiological treatment using a biofeedback approach. Methods. Different muscle regions of the head and neck and skin conductance level were assessed with biofeedback equipment. Physiological treatment effects were analysed using the pre-post effect sizes in comparison to the waitlist group. Correlations for physiological changes and psychological treatment effects were computed. Results. Moderate to large effect sizes for physiological changes were demonstrated. Physiological and psychological treatment effects were found to be unrelated. Discussion. Our treatment approach, which combined biofeedback therapy with CBT elements, was found to be highly effective in reducing psychophysiological activation. Psychological and physiological variables seem to represent independent response systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the lack of studies examining the cognitive components of affective chronometry, this research examined the appraisals associated with emotion habituation, using anger as the emotion of focus. Anger and its appraisals were assessed repeatedly over a day in the participants' naturalistic contexts. The trajectory of decline in anger over time after its first appearance was found to be a function of chronic coping styles. More importantly, the trajectories of anger-related appraisals generally corresponded to that of anger and were also moderated by coping styles in ways consistent with the moderating effects of coping styles on anger. Implications of these results for affective chronometry research and for appraisal research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two experiments explored the ability of 18-month-old infants to form an abstract categorical representations of tight-fit spatial relations in a visual habituation task. In Experiment I, infants formed an abstract spatial category when hearing a familiar word (tight) during habituation but not when viewing the events in silence or when hearing a novel word. In Experiment 2, infants were given experience viewing and producing tight-fit relations while an experimenter labeled them with a novel word. Following this experience, infants formed the tight-fit spatial category in the visual habituation task, particularly when hearing the novel word gain during habituation. Results suggest that even brief experience with a label and tight-fit relations can aid infants in forming an abstract categorical representation of tight-fit relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The activity of wildlife viewing rests on an underlying contradiction. Wild animals are generally human-averse; they avoid humans and respond to human encounters by fleeing and retreating to cover. One would therefore expect human viewing of wild animals to be at best unpredictable, intermittent, and fleeting. Yet in recent decades, wildlife viewing has become a major recreational activity for millions of people around the world and has emerged as a thriving commercial industry. How can these two things—widespread wildlife intolerance of humans and large-scale human observation of wildlife—be squared? The answer is that wild animals are only viewed on this scale because they have been made viewable through human intervention. This article examines two kinds of intervention—habituation and attraction—that change wildlife behavior toward humans and render hitherto elusive animals susceptible to regular, proximate, and protracted human viewing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was aimed at exploring newborns’ ability to recognize configural changes within real face images by testing newborns’ sensitivity to the Thatcher illusion. Using the habituation procedure, newborns’ ability to discriminate between an unaltered face image and the same face with the eyes and the mouth 180° rotated (i.e. thatcherized) was investigated. Newborns were able to discriminate an unaltered from the thatcherized version of the same face when stimuli were presented in the canonical upright orientation (Experiment 1), but failed to discriminate the same stimuli when they were presented upside-down (Experiment 2). The results indicate that sensitivity to fine spatial information (defined as second-order relational information) in processing upright faces is already present at birth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this experiment moderating factors of the so-called precognitive habituation effect were studied. The precognitive habituation effect refers to the apparent influence of later shown pictures or words on participants' choice and preference ratings, which seem to be biased by habituation effects due to repeated display in the future, and so might be interpreted as an instance of precognition. In this study a number of modifications were introduced in the classic precognitive habituation protocol: (a) words and pictures were used as stimulus material, (b) a new individual difference was measured as a potential factor (affect regulation), and (c) subjects were primed into a reactive mindset in order to highlight the affective nature of the choice task. Only low-arousal positive and high-arousal negative stimuli were used. There was no significant main effect, but in accordance with previous results, subjects who scored high on emotional reactivity displayed a significant precognitive habituation effect, but only with high-arousal negative stimuli. Subjects high on affect regulation also showed a significant precognitive habituation effect for negative stimuli. The strongest effect was displayed by subjects who were high both on emotional reactivity and affect regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]