"a neuron will generate action potentials more often when it"

A neuron will generate action potentials more often when it receives more excitatory than inhibitory inputs.

There are several stages of how neurons generate action potentials. First, the neurons or excitable nerve cells of the nervous system conduct signals or electrical impulses that serves as a medium of communication between sensory receptors, muscles and glands, and the brain and spinal cord. Consequently, an action potential occurs when an electrical signal disrupts the stability or balance of the sodium and potassium within a cell membrane, depolarizing the concentration for a brief moment. An electrical signal then travels along the axon through a depolarized voltage-gated membrane and can either jump along a myelinated area or travel along an unmyelinated area continuously. While an action potential is being generated by a cell, no other action potential is generated until the channel of the cell returns to its original resting state. Action potentials generated by neural impulses has an "all or nothing" response, which means that the signal may reach the threshold or not.

The answer is observations and interpreting.