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Essay about The Dual-Process View of Nonassociative Learning

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Marcus, Nolen, Rankin, and Carew (1988) conducted a series of experiments to address the debate over the dual-process view of nonassociative learning. The dual-process view of nonassociative learning relies on the relationship between a decreasing process producing habituation and an increasing process that allows dishabituation and sensitization to occur. Habituation is a decrease in response due to repeated stimulation. On the other hand, sensitization is an increase in response due to repeated stimulation. Dishabituation is the elicitation of a habituated response after a dishabituating stimulus is presented. Marcus et al. (1988) developed the multiprocess view of nonassociative learning as an alternative to the dual-process view. Using …show more content…

The weaker the tail stimuli, the greater the magnitude of dishabituation observed.
The second set of experiments focused on sensitization. The same process used for dishabituation was used to asses sensitization, but this group was only presented with two baseline stimuli to the siphon. Sensitization was not expressed until twenty to thirty minutes after the tail stimulus leading Marcus et al. (1988) to conclude sensitization has a delayed onset. Further, significant sensitization was only exhibited after a stronger stimulus was administered.
Marcus et al. (1988) concluded dishabituation and sensitization vary by time of onset, stimulus requirements, and developmental onset. They attributed these differences to varying cellular processes and mechanisms related to each dishabituation and sensitization. Future research needs to be conducted to determine the level to which these differing underlying processes relate to the multiprocess view of the behavioral displays of dishabituation and sensitization in the Aplysia. By using the Aplysia, Marcus et al. (1988) were able to gather baseline data on dishabituation and sensitization as well as challenge the dual-process theory. Research has been conducted in human infants to determine the effect of repeated stimulus presentation on their looking behaviors. Future research in human behavior should use the principles of Marcus et al. (1988) to investigate the various

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