Name:Yew Wing Yee July 12B Topic Can snails become habituate to a stimulus?

Introduction Habituation is a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations.As a procedure, habituation is the repeated presentation of an eliciting stimulus that results in the decline of the elicited behavior (the process of habituation). This can be rooted from one becoming accustomed to a stimulus to such an extent, that one is simply less responsive or reactive to the stimulus. This process is gradual and is caused after prolonged exposure to the said stimulus. Habituation is also a learning process exhibited by several different species. Although its quite simple, its been suggested that habituation may be the basis of all other forms of learning. The mechanisms of habituation are usually closely regarded as akin to the mechanisms of learning. Snail can be found in gardens, in ponds and even in the sea. They belong to a group of animals with a soft body called molluscs which are related to oysters, clams, and other shellfish.Characteristically they have soft, unsegmented bodies. Normally, their soft bodies are protected by a hard shell. The scientific name for the garden snail is Helix aspersa. Results Number of times the snail has been stimulated 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Time/sec 17.2 16.6 16.0 14.9 12.6 10.0 9.0 8.8 7.2 7.0

Discussion There are no ethical problems when dealing with invertebrates. The snails should suffer no psychological harm and will be released straight back to the wild afterwards.In this case the knowledge gained justifies the procedure, as the procedure should cause no harm whatsoever. The experiment will not harm or stress the snails, they arent social animals so they wont mind being caged for a short period as long as the experiment takes and common garden snails are not an endangered species, they are actually an incredibly common species. Snails are a great model for this experiment because they can be easily handled and manipulated. Snails are advantageous when it comes to experiments because they are easy to keep and maintain, also abundant in surrounding, easy to study plus they are inexpensive. But, humans cant be compared tosnail due to their difference in the genetic make-up. In this experiment, the snails are not tested unti lthey died. Only 10 stimulations are being given and after that, they are released back to the environment. In addition, the use of cotton wool buds instead of sharp object can reduce the risk of injury to the snails. Although the snails are simple organisms that may not suffer in the same way as higher animal, they still deserve respect. These snails are released back to their original habitat and reduce the disturbance on the food chain. Questions 1. When the snail is being given stimulation (touch) repeatedly, it will eventually become habituated.Thus, the snail would retreat less when another touch is given. 2. Negative correlation. 3. As number of stimulations between the eyes stalks of the snails increases, the time for the eye stalk withdrawal will decreases , thus showing negative correlation. Habituation is a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated stimulus. Nervous system is that the calcium channel in the presynaptic membrane becomes less responsive with repeated stimulations.With fewer calcium channels open, less calcium ions cross into the presynaptic knob. As a result,fewer vesicles move

towards presynaptic membrane, fuse, and discharge their neurotransmitter. Less neurotransmitter available to bind to the postsynaptic membrane so the post-synaptic excitatory potential is not high enough (under threshold level) to trigger an action potential. . Thus, the action potential generated is not high enough which cause no response.According to the graph drawn, there is negative correlation between the number of stimulus and the time taken for the eyestalk to fully emerge. This happen due to habituation has takes place since same stimulus is given and identified as not important or not danger. Thus, the snails respond less after a few stimulus. 4. In the wild,the surface is not even and act as a touch stimulus to the snail when the snail pass by them.The snail become habituated and may not respond to a prodding. 5. Procedure 1.A garden snail is being captured and placed on a clean, firm surface. The snail is being left for a few minutes so that it has gotten used to the new surrounding and fully emerged from its shell. 2.A cotton wool bud is being dampened with water. 3.The snail is firmly touched between the eye stalks by using the dampened cotton wool bud and the stopwatch is immediately started. 4.The time taken for the snail to retreat and fully emerged is recorded 5.Procedure in step 3 and step 4 are repeated for a total of 10 touches with the timing for the snails to re-emerge each time 6.The data is tabulated in a suitable table and other snails data were tabulated as well. 7.A graph of time against no. of stimulation is then plotted. In order to avoid any accident or injury during the experiment in laboratory, the precautionary steps should be taken and applied. Wearing lab coat and a pair of suitable shoes are compulsory when conducting an experiment in the lab at all times to protect the skin and clothing from spillage of any chemical substance. For the snail, make sure to be careful, not to make it stressful that it already has due to different surrounding. The surrounding needs to be constantly damp, mimicking the snails real habitat.

6. If snails are handled regularly prior to experiment,they are exposed to touch stimulus and started to become habituated.At the beginning the experiment,the snails will respond less towards the poking of cotton bud and the correlation shown may not be as strong as if snails are not handled before.The results will be less reliable. Conclusion From this experiment it is true that the time taken for the snails to retreat and re-emerge decreases with increasing no. of stimulation. Over a numbweof stimulation, the snails had become habituated.Thus,hypothesis is accepted