8.2.5 - Habituation

Question 1

How Do Animals Increase Their Chance Of Survival?

Answer 1

By responding to changes in their external and internal environment.

Question 2

Why Is It Important That Animals Become Habituated To Repeated Stimuli?
(2 Points)

Answer 2

~ So they don’t waste energy on non-threating stimuli.

~ To conserve energy for essential processes that increase their survival chances.

Question 3

What Is Habituation?

Answer 3

When a stimulus is repeated many times, with no negative outcome, causing an animal to not respond to it.

Question 4

Describe The Process Of Habituation
(6 Points)

Answer 4

~ Fewer calcium ions move into the pre-synaptic neurone.

~ Fewer vesicles fuse with the pre-synaptic membrane, and are released into the synaptic cleft.

~ Less neurotransmitters are released from vesicles.

~ Fewer neurotransmitters bind to the receptors on the post-synaptic membrane.

~ Fewer sodium ion channels open, reducing the chance of the threshold for the action potential to be reached.

~ Fewer signals are then sent to the effector.