Response decrement, novelty response, and dishabituation of body movements to repeated presentations of a white noise stimulus of 66, 76, and 86 dB were studied in 89, 2-3-day-olds in the first epoch of active-quiet sleep following a feeding. Newborns receiving the 86 dB repeating stimulus had greater movement scores compared to those receiving the 76 dB intensity who, in turn, had greater movement scores than those receiving the 66 dB intensity. All groups demonstrated movement response decline following repeated stimulation and a novelty response was observed when either a 66 or 76 dB repeating stimulus was increased to 86 dB. A novelty response was not observed when intensity was decreased and dishabituation was not observed following a novelty response. For a white noise stimulus, these findings are more consistent with the selective adaptation than the habituation explanation of neonatal response decrement to repeated auditory stimulation.