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Habituation 0:56

A 56-second explainer of Habituation, narrated over the same demo you can try yourself.

The Habituation explainer. Prefer to do it yourself? Try the interactive demo.

Try the interactive Habituation demo

What this video covers

Habituation is the way a repeated, unchanging signal gradually stops registering. The first time something appears you notice it; by the tenth identical time your brain has learned it carries nothing new and quietly tunes it out - which is great for ignoring noise, and a problem when the thing you've learned to ignore is your warning.

The first banner stopped you; by the fifth identical one you were dismissing it without reading - your brain had filed it as "nothing new". That's habituation. It's exactly why over-used warnings and constant confirmations go unseen: people learn the signal is safe to ignore, so the one time it matters, it's already invisible. Change it, or save it, to win attention back.

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