ABSTRACT
This chapter considers non-associative learning. There are two broad categories of learning: non-associative and associative. In non-associative learning, behavior is modified simply by the occurrence of a stimulus without that stimulus having to be paired with any other event. These modifications are considered learning, although a non-associative type of learning. Generally speaking, these effects can be either an increase called sensitization or a decrease called habituation in the response to a subsequent stimulus. Acting in direct opposition to sensitization is the process of habituation, which is a decrease in the eliciting effect of a stimulus as a result of repeated presentations of that stimulus, which is not due to fatigue or depletion of energy. The type of imprinting in which an animal becomes attracted to the odor or sight of its mother is typically called filial imprinting to distinguish it from sexual imprinting.
