Habituation

Real World Example

Imagine you're trying to concentrate on reading a book while the sound of a ticking clock fills the room. At first, the ticking may be distracting, but over time, you stop paying attention to it and focus solely on your book. This is similar to habituation in animals, where they learn to ignore a stimulus that neither rewards nor harms them—just like you learn to tune out the ticking clock that doesn't affect your reading experience. In this analogy, the book is your focus, the ticking clock is the neutral stimulus, and your ability to ignore it mirrors how animals adapt to non-threatening, non-beneficial stimuli in their environment.