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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–5Cite as

Sensitization

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Synonyms

Sensitizing

Definition

The increase in responsiveness due to a strong, usually painful stimulus.

Introduction

Sensitization is a non-associative learning process that leads to increased responsiveness to a stimulus and is considered complementary to habituation. The increase in responsiveness or behavior is due to the exposure of a strong, most commonly noxious, stimulus that is causing pain. It is therefore logical to infer that sensitization’s adaptive value is high, as it protects an organism from predators and other potential dangers Eisenstein, Eisenstein, Smith (2001).

Theoretical Background

The most prominent non-associative learning theory was composed by Groves and Thompson (1970). Neurophysiological concepts were combined with concerns of human ethology and evolution to create the “dual process” theory. The dual process theory was the one which took into consideration both sensitization and habituation. This theory advocated that repeated stimulation would produce...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Androulla Ioannou & Xenia Anastassiou-Hadjicharalambous

Authors
  1. Androulla Ioannou
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  2. Xenia Anastassiou-Hadjicharalambous
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xenia Anastassiou-Hadjicharalambous .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Menelaos Apostolou

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Ioannou, A., Anastassiou-Hadjicharalambous, X. (2018). Sensitization. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1032-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1032-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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