Stimulus

The stimulus may be external, e.g. a sound, message, smell or behavior of another person, or internal, e.g. a thought, memory, body tension or hunger. In psychology and neuroscience, stimuli are important because they help explain learning, emotions, stress responses, and habits. The same stimulus can cause different reactions depending on the learning history and the current state of the body.

For a week, write down situations in which you react automatically. Notice what came just before the reaction: an image, a word, a thought, a tension, a time of day, or a person.