%% ### Todo - [ ] Add to and edit the content below. - [ ] [[Atomic Habits]] - [ ] [[The Power of Habit]] - [ ] [[Habit Stacking]] - [ ] https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/neuroscience/habits - [ ] Add sources. Currently, most content seems from [[How People Learn II]] %% Habits are sequential, repetitive motor and cognitive behaviors elicited by external or internal triggers that happen automatically (National Academies, 2018; Seel, 2012). As a consequence, one automatically adjusts one's behaviors when particular contextual **cues or triggers** are present. Habit learning involves learning **association between stimuli (or context) and responses**. It can be defined as a stimulus–response (S–R) association becoming independent of the goal of the action after a critical number of repetitions of the different events in the same environment (National Academies, 2018). It seems that habits can form on **many levels**, including thinking patterns and physiological patterns in the body. For example, there is evidence that the immune system is subject to classical conditioning, which creates habitual responses to external cues. These behaviors can be strengthened when they are closely followed by **rewards**. However, the behaviors don't always need to be rewarded to be reinforced. In fact, *predictable rewards* even reduce the durability of habits. *Intermittent rewards* (or intermittent reinforcement), on the other hand, appear to sustain habits even better. It involves rewards on an unpredictable schedule, which [[How to Increase Motivation and Drive|keeps the dopamine system in check]]. %%What about punishments? Do they work analogously to rewards?%% Although the formation of these associations is dependent during learning on the reinforcement of the action, the expression of this habitual behavior after learning is not sensitive anymore to the outcome associated to the action (National Academies, 2018). %%Give another example.%% Establishing a new "good" habit may initially take **effort and willpower**. That's because the immediate consequences of good habits are often "negative", and the "positive" consequences are delayed in time (Clear, 2018). An example would be to establish an exercise routine, where the immediate consequences include pain and discomfort, and the health and mood benefits only come afterward. --- Created: [[2022-07-06]] Type: #permanent Topics: [[Learning (Index)]], [[Habit formation (Index)]] Related notes: - [[What are the different types of learning?]]