Habituation Theory and Environment-Aging Research: Ennui to Joie De Vivre?

Abstract

Robert Kastenbaum posits that functional aging results in the overadaptation to our own routines and expectations, producing “hyperhabituation,” mental stagnation, and novaphobic response orientations. This article examines the promise and implications of this notion for two areas of environment-aging research: psychological control and environmental comprehension. Possible causal and mediating links between control and habituation are considered, as well as the impact of habituation on environmental perception, cognition, and appraisal. Personal and situational characteristics of older people likely to be at risk for habituated responses are suggested. The article also speculates about individually- and environmentally-targeted interventions which might prevent and/or ameliorate tendencies toward hyperhabituated responses among older people who reside in highly ritualized and constant environments such as long-term care institutions. Interventions subject to future evaluations include modifications for the social, physical, and policy milieux and desensitization of novaphobic responses.