Habituation of Autonomic Response Elements under two Conditions of Alertness

Abstract

The habituation of the phasic responses and the prestimulus values of the pulse rate and the electrodermal activity has been studied under two different conditions of alertness. The auditory stimulus was administered with intervals varied at random according to a constant sequence. The degree of alertness was assumed to be higher when the subject was preoccupied with a special sighting device than when he was relaxed. It was found that the increased alertness tended to delay the habituation and to increase the prestimulus activation level of the variables.

Habituation of the psycho-galvanic reflex in patients with anxiety states and in normal subjects

“…Furthermore, the administration of cyclobarbitone diminished the number of fluctuations and the skin conductance level and accelerated habituation. It seems apparent that the rate of habituation is partially dependent on the level of activity as Scholander (1960) had previously suggested. But there are still wide individual differences in the rates of habituation even allowing for differences in levels of activity.…”

Habituation: A model phenomenon for the study of neuronal substrates of behavior.

“…With the possible exception of the "knee jerk" reflex (Lombard, 1887;Prosser & Hunter, 1936) habituation was a consistent finding, usually exhibiting an exponential course. The recent habituation literature contains many investigations of various responses which can be subsumed under the general heading of response to novel stimulation, ranging in complexity from simple startle through variously defined orienting reflexes to curiosity, stimulus satiation, and play behavior (Berlyne, 1950(Berlyne, , 1960Bindra, 1959;Butler & Harlow, 1954;Davis, Buchwald, & Frankmann, 1955;Dember, 1961;Dykman, Reese, Galbrecht, & Thomasson, 1959;Engen & Lipsitt, 1965;Glanzer, 1953;Melzak, 1961;Montgomery, 1953;Robinson & Gantt, 1947;Rodgers, Melzak, & Segal, 1963;Scholander, 1960;Sokolov, 1960;Welker, 1956Welker, , 1961. Interestingly, if a single novel stimulus is repeated regularly, habituation of approach behavior follows an exponential course (Glanzer, 1953).…”

Influence of the cerebral cortex on habituation

“…A number of experiments had shown that the intensity of responses could be altered by impulses originating in the brain (Hagbarth & Kerr, 1954;Galambos, 1956;Hernandez-Peon, Scherrer & Velasco, 1956; Sharpless & Jasper, 1956;Hagbarth & Kugelberg, 1958;Scholander, 1960) and there was also some specific evidence that the cerebral hemispheres might influence habituation (Glaser & Whittow, 1957;Glaser, 1958), but the part played by the cerebral cortex was by no means clear. The present experiments were designed to investigate this further.…”

“…Sharpless & Jasper, 1956;Hagbarth & Kugelberg, 1958;Scholander, 1960) and there was also some specific evidence that the cerebral hemispheres might influence habituation (Glaser & Whittow, 1957;Glaser, 1958), but the part played by the cerebral cortex was by no means clear. The present experiments were designed to investigate this further.…”