Editing Learning (section)

=== Non-associative learning ===
''Non-associative learning'' refers to "a relatively permanent change in the strength of response to a single stimulus due to repeated exposure to that stimulus."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fuentes|first=Agustín|title=The International Encyclopedia of Primatology, 3 Volume Set|date=2017|publisher=Wiley Blackwell|isbn=978-0-470-67337-9|location=Malden, MA|pages=712}}</ref> This definition exempts the changes caused by [[sensory adaptation]], [[fatigue]], or injury.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://users.ipfw.edu/abbott/314/Non-associativeLearning.pdf |title=Non-associative Learning |access-date=2013-08-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103191805/http://users.ipfw.edu/abbott/314/Non-associativeLearning.pdf |archive-date=2014-01-03 }}</ref>

Non-associative learning can be divided into [[habituation]] and [[sensitization]].

==== Habituation ====
{{Main|Habituation}}
''Habituation'' is an example of non-associative learning in which one or more components of an innate response (e.g., response probability, response duration) to a stimulus diminishes when the stimulus is repeated. Thus, habituation must be distinguished from [[Extinction (psychology)|extinction]], which is an associative process. In operant extinction, for example, a response declines because it is no longer followed by a reward. An example of habituation can be seen in small song birds—if a stuffed [[owl]] (or similar [[predator]]) is put into the cage, the birds initially react to it as though it were a real predator. Soon the birds react less, showing habituation. If another stuffed owl is introduced (or the same one removed and re-introduced), the birds react to it again as though it were a predator, demonstrating that it is only a very specific stimulus that is habituated to (namely, one particular unmoving owl in one place). The habituation process is faster for stimuli that occur at a high rather than for stimuli that occur at a low rate as well as for the weak and strong stimuli, respectively.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Science of Learning|last=Pear|first=Joseph|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1-317-76280-5|location=London|page=15}}</ref> Habituation has been shown in essentially every species of animal, as well as the sensitive plant ''[[Mimosa pudica]]''<ref name="gagliano2014">{{cite journal | last1 = Gagliano | first1 = M. | display-authors = etal | year = 2014 | title = Experience teaches plants to learn faster and forget slower in environments where it matters | journal = Oecologia | volume = 175 | issue = 1| pages = 63–72 | doi=10.1007/s00442-013-2873-7| pmid = 24390479 | bibcode = 2014Oecol.175...63G | s2cid = 5038227 }}</ref> and the large protozoan ''[[Stentor coeruleus]]''.<ref name="wood1988">{{cite journal | last1 = Wood | first1 = D.C. | year = 1988 | title = Habituation in ''Stentor'' produced by mechanoreceptor channel modification | pmid = 3249223 | journal = Journal of Neuroscience | issue = 7| volume = 8 | pages = 2254–8 | doi = 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.08-07-02254.1988 | pmc = 6569508 }}</ref> This concept acts in direct opposition to sensitization.<ref name=":0" />

==== Sensitization ====
{{Main|Sensitization}}
''Sensitization'' is an example of non-associative learning in which the progressive amplification of a response follows repeated administrations of a [[stimulation|stimulus]].<ref>Shettleworth, S. J. (2010). Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford.</ref> This is based on the notion that a defensive reflex to a stimulus such as withdrawal or escape becomes stronger after the exposure to a different harmful or threatening stimulus.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Neurosciences – From Molecule to Behavior|last1=Galizia|first1=Giovanni|last2=Lledo|first2=Pierre-Marie|publisher=Springer Spektrum|year=2013|isbn=978-3-642-10768-9|location=Heidelberg|page=578}}</ref> An everyday example of this mechanism is the repeated tonic stimulation of peripheral nerves that occurs if a person rubs their arm continuously. After a while, this stimulation creates a warm sensation that can eventually turn painful. This pain results from a progressively amplified synaptic response of the peripheral nerves. This sends a warning that the stimulation is harmful.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Woolf|first=Clifford J.|date=2018-02-27|title=Pain amplification-A perspective on the how, why, when, and where of central sensitization|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jabr.12124|journal=Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research|volume=23|issue=2|pages=e12124|doi=10.1111/jabr.12124|issn=1071-2089}}</ref>{{clarify|date=January 2011}} Sensitization is thought to underlie both adaptive as well as maladaptive learning processes in the organism.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bonne|first1=Omer|last2=Grillon|first2=Christian|last3=Vythilingam|first3=Meena|last4=Neumeister|first4=Alexander|last5=Charney|first5=Dennis S|date=March 2004|title=Adaptive and maladaptive psychobiological responses to severe psychological stress: implications for the discovery of novel pharmacotherapy|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2003.12.001|journal=Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews|volume=28|issue=1|pages=65–94|doi=10.1016/j.neubiorev.2003.12.001|pmid=15036934 |s2cid=23745725 |issn=0149-7634}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}