Of all the types of learning, pre-associative learning is the simplest of all and is shared by absolutely every animal species on the planet. It is a type of learning of an implicit or subconscious nature that allows species to adapt to their environment .

It is enough that an organism is equipped with the simplest of the nervous systems for it to learn in a pre-associative way, which in the end, refers to the capacity of an organism to respond or not to the stimuli of the environment.

Habituation and awareness

Within pre-associative learning we find two phenomena: the habituation and sensitization . For the moment we will focus on the first one.

Habitation: definition and examples

It is considered the most primitive form of learning and is defined as the decrease of the response of an organism to a stimulus , in other words, it is the process by which we stop responding to that which is not relevant.

It is a tremendously daily and frequent phenomenon in our day-to-day life. Those who live near an airport, a big road or a discotheque will easily recognize it, because if it is the first time for you that you are in the vicinity of such noisy places, it will be impossible for you to live in those conditions, while those who have already been living in those conditions for a few weeks, no longer hear the noise pollution. Habitation has acted on them, and has made the stimuli that for us are aversive at first, they are unable to hear them if not paying very close attention.

A way of learning that allows us to adapt to the environment

But environmental noise is only one example of the many situations in which this process is present. I am sure that when you are driving or walking to work you do not pay attention to all those details of the road, the signs, signals and advertising are completely invisible to you because you have learned not to respond to them.

If a child does not listen to the frequent scolding and attempts at change by a teacher or parents who are unhappy with his or her academic grades, it would not be fair to say that the child is disobedient. On the contrary, it is surely the case that constant shouting and calls for attention are no longer the most correct way to bring about change in the child, since he or she has stopped responding to them. It is also the case of the typical person who does nothing but complain or argue every time he speaks and whose attempts at complaint and indignation are reduced to zero since we stop perceiving them, as they say “I can hear them in one ear and they can hear them out the other”.

A necessary learning for survival

As you may have noticed, this mechanism is as simple as it is functional . Without this type of learning, the perpetuation of life would not be possible. Any stimulus that enters through the pupil of our eyes or through our ear would be considered, analysed and responded to.

This situation would make us unable to take a step without first analyzing infinite environmental stimulation that is irrelevant. Therefore, allows us to move freely through our immediate environment without having to bother to analyse the possible effects of any sensation that we encounter along the way and that we encounter in our wake.

A process that leads to negative social realities

Although strictly necessary for life, habituation can lead to phenomena that are not pleasant to us and take emotion out of life. Boredom, routine and boredom are always preceded by this learning, our organism is not stimulated by anything around it and it demands additional stimulation to which our organism is capable of reacting and feeling alive.

In the same way, it is responsible for the fact that time passes so quickly because, as the elements of our environment are not perceived, it is not remembered and, as far as we know about the relationship between memory and time perception, as we do not store new memories, our perception of time is faster and we rightly sigh the speed with which life passes.

Remedies to end the negative effects of habituation

From what we have seen, it is impossible to think of a life without this phenomenon, even if it leads to a reduction in the attention of our surroundings, which leads to situations of boredom and feelings of transience. However, there are ways to combat its negative consequences.

Activities such as meditation, yoga, mindfulness and generally, any activity that arises from Buddhist roots are based on the development of full attention to our external and internal environment, thus making the small and routine activities of our life become large and representative. As they say, the small things in life are the most important so let’s not let this process inherent in human nature prevent us from seeing them.