A novel free-operant framework enables experimental habit induction in humans

Gera, Rani; Barak, Segev; Schönberg, Tom

doi:10.31234/osf.io/kgqun

“…Therefore, we are unable to firmly conclude that the action sequences are habits rather than, for example, goal-directed skills. According to a very recent study, also employing an app to study habitual behavior, the criterion of devaluation resistance was shown to apply to a three-element sequence with less training ( Gera et al, 2022 ). Thus, overtraining of our six-element sequence might also have achieved behavioral autonomy from the goal in addition to behavioral automaticity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent study has demonstrated though that even short overtraining (1 day only) is effective at producing habitual behavior in participants high in affective stress (Pool et al, 2022), confirming previous suggestions for the key role of anxiety and stress on the behavioral expression of habits (Dias-Ferreira et al, 2009;Hartogsveld et al, 2020;Schwabe and Wolf, 2009). Here we have trained a clinical population with moderately high baseline levels of stress and anxiety, with training sessions of a higher order of magnitude than in previous studies (de Wit et al, 2018Wit et al, , 2018Gera et al, 2022) (30 days instead of 3 days). By all accounts our overtraining is valid: to our knowledge the longest overtraining in human studies achieved so far.…”

Section: Implications For the Dual Associative Theory Of Habitual And...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Action sequence learning, habits, and automaticity in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Banca

¹

,

Ruiz

²

,

González-Zalba

³

et al. 2024

eLife

1

0

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Enhanced habit formation, greater automaticity and impaired goal/habit arbitration in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are key hypotheses from the goal/habit imbalance theory of compulsion which have not been directly investigated. This article tests these hypotheses using a combination of newly developed behavioral tasks. First, we trained patients with OCD and healthy controls, using a novel smartphone app, to perform chunked action sequences, previously shown to engage habit brain circuitry. The motor training was daily over one month period. There was equivalent procedural learning and attainment of habitual performance (measured with an objective criteria of automaticity) in both groups, despite greater subjective habitual tendencies in patients with OCD, self-reported via a recently developed questionnaire. We then used a combination of follow-up behavioral tasks to further assess the arbitration between previous automatic and new goal-directed action sequences. We found no evidence for impairments of goal/habit arbitration in OCD following re-evaluation based on monetary feedback, although there was a greater preference for engaging in the trained habitual sequence under certain conditions which may have derived from its intrinsic value. These findings may lead to a reformulation of the goal/habit imbalance hypothesis in OCD. Finally, OCD patients with higher compulsivity scores and habitual tendencies showed more engagement with the motor habit-training app and reported symptom alleviation, with implications for its potential use as a form of habit reversal therapy.

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“…Therefore, we are unable to firmly conclude that the action sequences are habits rather than, for example, goal-directed skills. According to a very recent study, also employing an app to study habitual behavior, the criterion of devaluation resistance was shown to apply to a simple 2-element sequence with less training (Gera et al, 2022). Thus, it remains possible that the overtraining of our 6-element sequence might have achieved behavioral autonomy from the goal in addition to behavioral automaticity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Action-sequence learning, habits and automaticity in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Banca

¹

,

Ruiz

²

,

González-Zalba

³

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Enhanced habit formation, greater automaticity and impaired goal/habit arbitration in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are key hypotheses from the goal/habit imbalance theory of compulsion which have not been directly investigated. This article tests these hypotheses using a combination of newly developed behavioral tasks. First, we trained patients with OCD and healthy controls, using a novel smartphone app, to perform chunked action sequences, previously shown to engage habit brain circuitry. The motor training was daily over one month period. There was equivalent procedural learning and attainment of habitual performance (measured with an objective criteria of automaticity) in both groups, despite greater subjective habitual tendencies in patients with OCD, self-reported via a recently developed questionnaire. We then used a combination of follow-up behavioral tasks to further assess the arbitration between previous automatic and new goal-directed action sequences. We found no evidence for impairments of goal/habit arbitration in OCD following re-evaluation based on monetary feedback, although there was a greater preference for engaging in the trained habitual sequence under certain conditions which may have derived from its intrinsic value. These findings may lead to a reformulation of the goal/habit imbalance hypothesis in OCD. Finally, OCD patients with higher compulsivity scores and habitual tendencies showed more engagement with the motor habit-training app and reported symptom alleviation, with implications for its potential use as a form of habit reversal therapy.

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“…The habit‐based approach to behaviour change has, however, attracted criticism for seemingly failing to realise its potential (Segar, 2022). The persistence of habitual responses even when they no longer serve valued goals, a key characteristic of habit commonly observed among animals in lab‐based studies, does not reliably replicate to humans in real‐world contexts (de Wit et al., 2018; Gera et al., 2023; Linnebank et al., 2018). Commentators have questioned whether complex behaviours can become fully automated (Maddux, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What is habit and how can it be used to change real‐world behaviour? Narrowing the theory‐reality gap

Gardner,

Rebar,

de Wit

et al. 2024

Social & Personality Psych

4

0

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Habit change is often seen as key to successful long‐term behaviour change. Making ‘good’ behaviours habitual—that is, ensuring a behaviour is prompted automatically on exposure to situational cues, based on cue‐response associations learnt through context‐consistent repetition—is portrayed as a mechanism for sustaining such behaviours over time. Conversely, disrupting ‘bad’ habits is expected to terminate longstanding unwanted actions. Yet, some commentators have suggested that the role of habit in real‐world behaviour and behaviour change has been overstated. Such critiques highlight a gap between habit theory and the reality of human behaviour ‘in the wild’. This state‐of‐the‐field review aims to narrow this gap. Building on a core distinction between habit and habitual behaviour, our review seeks to offer interpretations of habit theory and evidence that will better manage intervention designers' expectations regarding how modifying habit can realistically be expected to promote behaviour change. We emphasise that habit is just one potential influence on behaviour at any given moment, and highlight instances in which habit may dominate over intention, and in which intention may dominate over habit, in determining behaviour frequency. We suggest that, while it may assist behaviour maintenance, habit formation may be neither necessary nor sufficient to sustain real‐world behaviour change. We draw attention to the various ways in which habit may be ‘broken’ (i.e., disrupted), and discern the implications of each habit disruption mechanism for long‐term cessation of unwanted behaviours.

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A novel free-operant framework enables experimental habit induction in humans

Cited by 7 publications

References 52 publications

Action sequence learning, habits, and automaticity in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Action sequence learning, habits, and automaticity in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Action-sequence learning, habits and automaticity in obsessive-compulsive disorder

What is habit and how can it be used to change real‐world behaviour? Narrowing the theory‐reality gap

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