When a baby appears to lose interest in a stimulus after repeated exposure, this is known as?

The phenomenon where a baby seems to lose interest in a stimulus after repeated exposure is understood as habituation. This occurs when the infant becomes accustomed to a particular stimulus, leading to a decrease in response over time.

In the context of infant development, habituation signifies that the baby has learned that the stimulus is non-threatening or no longer novel, which leads to decreased attention. This process is significant because it demonstrates the baby's ability to process information and adapt to their environment. Habituation is a foundational aspect of cognitive development, reflecting the infant's growing understanding and engagement with the world around them.

Other options refer to different concepts. Stimulus generalization involves responding similarly to similar stimuli and is not about losing interest but rather about recognizing categories. Conditioning, often related to learning associations between stimuli, also does not directly address the loss of interest in a repeated stimulus. Extinction typically relates to the diminishing of a conditioned response over time when reinforcement is no longer provided, which again diverges from simply losing interest after familiarity.