Simulation of habituation and sensitization with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) model
Edgar H. Vogel (Universidad de Talca), Orlando E. Jorquera (Federal University of Southern Bahia-UFSB) & Yerco E. Uribe-Bahamonde
Allan Wagner´s SOP theory is a computational implementation of the idea of priming, which is that expected events are rendered less effective than unexpected events. Thus, Wagner and his colleagues devoted considerable effort in using SOP´s machinery to describe the regularities of habituation, a relatively simple and universal form of behavioral plasticity, which consists of a decrease in the response to a repeated stimulus. However, apart from a few speculations, they paid far less attention to a related phenomenon, sensitization, that allegedly co-exists with habituation. The notion of sensitization has been invoked to explain the fact that, if certain conditions are met, the behavioral decrement that normally follows stimulus repetition might be delayed, reduced, restored or even replaced by a transient or relatively permanent increment in the response
Here, based on the ideas outlined by Brandon and Wagner in the ASEOP model, and using computer simulations, we demonstrate the potential of Wagner´s framework to embrace the major facts of habituation and sensitization in an integrated way.