Current limits of experimental research into habits and future directions

Watson, Poppy; Wit, Sanne de

doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.09.012

Cited by 94 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Together, these studies suggest that in our experiment, prior cocaine exposure may have compromised rats' ability to flexibly engage goal-directed control, in order to guide their choice in the face of changing circumstances. Strong habit formation, impaired goaldirected control or dysfunctional arbitration between these 2 systems could underlie the inflexibility reported here [45][46][47] . However, the presumed role of cocaine in this inflexibility must be taken with caution since no control group or condition for cocaine exposure was included in the present study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Inflexible habitual decision-making during choice between cocaine and a nondrug alternative

Vandaele¹,

Vouillac‐Mendoza²,

Ahmed³

2019

Transl Psychiatry

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The concept of compulsive cocaine-seeking habits is difficult to reconcile with other evidence showing that humans and even rats remain able to shift their choice away from the drug and toward an alternative nondrug reward, when available. This paradox could dissolve if preference for the nondrug option reflected in fact inflexible habitual decision-making (i.e., fixed in a habitual control mode, with no return to a goal-directed control mode). Previous research in rats has shown that prior drug use can favor habit formation, but whether the resulting habits are inflexible or not is largely unknown. Here we addressed this question by manipulating the value of water in rats that chose between water and cocaine in a discrete-trials procedure. Rats preferred water when thirsty and maintained this preference despite water devaluation by satiation. Only with repeated daily testing under water satiation did they progressively reverse their preference toward cocaine. Additional evidence showed that this progressive reversal of preference reflected in fact new interoceptive discrimination learning. Overall, this study suggests that rats seem to be stuck in a habitual decision-making mode, unable to return to a goal-directed mode upon experiencing a change in options value. It also reveals that inflexible decision-making does not necessarily promote drug choice, but can also under some circumstances favor abstinence.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Inflexible habitual decision-making during choice between cocaine and a nondrug alternative

Vandaele¹,

Vouillac‐Mendoza²,

Ahmed³

2019

Transl Psychiatry

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“…For example, while animals may require hundreds of trials to learn the correct response during a feedback learning task, healthy humans are able to respond correctly after only a few trials [54]. Another challenge facing translational research is discerning whether reduced sensitivity to outcome devaluation represents robust habit formation, weak goal-directed behavior, or both [55•]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individuals with OCD, as well as other psychiatric illnesses, have shown a reduction in model-based (i.e., goal-directed) learning on this task [61]. However, some studies have found a relationship between model-based (but not model-free) learning and devaluation sensitivity [60•, 62], which suggests that model-free learning may not effectively capture the stimulus-response learning driving habit formation [55•]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Habits in Anorexia Nervosa: Where We Are and Where to Go From Here?

Uniacke

Walsh

Foerde

et al. 2018

Curr Psychiatry Rep

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Behavior is habitual after it is frequently repeated and becomes nearly automatic, relatively insensitive to outcome, and mediated by dorsal frontostriatal neural systems. There is evidence for such behavior in AN, in which restrictive intake has been related to dorsal frontostriatal systems. Other neural and neurocognitive data provide mixed findings, some of which suggest disturbances in habit systems in AN. There are compelling behavioral and neural data to suggest that habit systems may underlie the persistence of AN. The habit model needs further research, via more direct behavioral hypothesis testing and probes of the development of habitual behavior. Investigation of the habit-centered model of AN may open avenues for the development of novel treatments.

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“…The advantage of outcome devaluation paradigms is that they successfully dissociate goal dependent from goal independent (habitual) repeated behaviors. However, a limitation of these paradigms is the assumption that behavior is either habitual or goal-directed, so that weak goal-directed responding implies strong habitual responding (Watson & de Wit, 2018; see also Chapters 3 and 17 this volume). Behavior that is goal independent need not necessarily be context dependent (Foerde, 2018).…”

Section: Behavioral Implicit and Ecological Assessment Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Behavior that is goal independent need not necessarily be context dependent (Foerde, 2018). Indeed, outcome insensitivity in reward devaluation paradigms is associated more strongly with deficits in goal-directed control rather than a surplus in habitual control (see Watson & de Wit, 2018).…”

Section: Behavioral Implicit and Ecological Assessment Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining Habit in Psychology

Mazar

Wood

2018

The Psychology of Habit

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We review definitions of habit and evaluate how well current measures capture these definitions. Habits are context-behavior associations in memory that develop as people repeatedly experience rewards for a given action in a given context. Habitual behavior is cued directly by context and does not require supporting goals and conscious intentions. As we explain, goals are important to initiate behavior repetition and to inhibit unwanted habit performance, and in addition can be inferred from habits. To date, research has relied on selfreport methods to measure habit. These measures, by themselves, may fall short of adequately testing key features of habit, such as context dependence, or dissociating habitual and nonhabitual influences on behavior. By augmenting self-reports with implicit, behavioral, and ecological momentary assessment methods, researchers can gain a more complete understanding of habits and their role in shaping behavior.

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Current limits of experimental research into habits and future directions

Cited by 94 publications

References 62 publications

Inflexible habitual decision-making during choice between cocaine and a nondrug alternative

Inflexible habitual decision-making during choice between cocaine and a nondrug alternative

The Role of Habits in Anorexia Nervosa: Where We Are and Where to Go From Here?

Defining Habit in Psychology

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