I understand non-associative learning is learning from a single stimulus. Many sources I can find show that habituation and sensitisation are forms of non-associative learning. Examples of single stimulus habituation are simple to imagine, but single stimulus sensitisation not so much. Many of the examples of sensitisation that people mention are actually examples of associative learning. I think the problem stems from the terminology, which suggests the following:
Desensitisation = opposite of sensitisation.
Habituation = opposite of sensitisation.
Therefore, habituation = desensitsation
I do not think that habituation is the same as desensitisation, but the terminology seems to be saying this is the case. I thought habituation was single stimulus learning, but desensitisation was the unlearning of a classically conditioned response (and therefore a type of associative learning).
Can anyone shed any light on this for me?
Dear Dennis Wormald
There is no such thing as "learning from a single stimulus" (do not confuse a single TYPE of stimulus with a single stimulus). ALL 3 of the simple types of learning you mention ARE of a necessary associative nature. ALL thought (not counting all sensation as thought) involves associative learning. Many papers well-arguing this have been written.
It seems as though non-associative learning is no longer used in the literature on learning theory. However, the term was simply dropped, the issue with it was not tackled head-on to my knowledge. I have noticed that it is a pervasive term in the animal training and dog training world. I am searching for a reference that "puts the nail in the coffin" for this term of non-associative learning. However, everything I have discovered (or been kindly referred to) is of a high level. It seems as though there is a need for a review published in an animal behaviour journal (such as applied animal behaviour science), that debunks the term "non-associative learning" in laymen's terms. If anyone can find such a non-technical reference, perhaps from within the life sciences, I would be very grateful!
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