dishabituation

dishabituation

n. the reappearance or enhancement of a habituated response (i.e., one that has been weakened following repeated exposure to the evoking stimulus) due to the presentation of a new stimulus. Dishabituation can be interpreted as a signal that a given stimulus can be discriminated from another habituated stimulus and is a useful method for investigating perception in nonverbal individuals or nonhuman animals. Compare habituation.