Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The result of habituation is that the impact of the anxiety response
weakens. All processes that usually follow, like safety alertness, will
also be activated with reduced strength. Although the dangerous stimu-
lus stays the same, we stay more relaxed. Habituation occurs while
perceiving all sorts of stimuli. The more we are exposed to stimuli, the
stronger the process of habituation will be. Because habituation
depends on the amount of stimuli, it is also related to the spectrum of
situations in which stimuli occur. Stimuli that are both present at work
and in private life have a higher tendency of becoming habituated
because they have more exposure.
All sensory processes are liable to habituation. We constantly lose the
freshness of newly learned experiences.
Habituation is one of the main reasons why the risk sensitivity at
home generally is so low. A lot of accidents happen in the domestic
environment because we are too complacent. The fact that 50 percent
of serious accidents occur in the domestic environment is a direct result
of habituation. An example is boiling water that we use daily while
cooking food or making tea. Boiling water can be very dangerous and
can even kill children. Due to daily habituation, boiling water gradu-
ally loses its ability to evoke risk sensitivity. At work, a fair amount of
accidents occur when boiling water is involved. We can recognize the
same with tools that are used both at home and at work. We all know
examples of a sawyer in a sawmill who has lost some fingers. This usu-
ally happens to those who have many years of experience and in the
meantime have lost their risk sensitivity. One small distraction can be
enough to saw not only the wood but also the fingers. Usually such an
accident precludes the end of that profession, so one would expect that
every sawyer is very alert to this potential mistake. The fact that it still
happens shows the strength of habituation.
Habituation constantly challenges alertness and eventually tends to win
Case 1
Habituation could be the issue because the mechanics were so familiar
with the case that they didn
t hesitate for a moment before proceeding
with the job, despite not referring to the papers that had been left in
the car.
'
