Lecture 6 - Habits Flashcards
(36 cards)
Definition of compulsive behaviour?
Behaviour that is continued despite the person being aware of the detrimental consequences
What is the (general) transdiagnostic perspective on compulsivity?
Common psych/neurobio processes underlie compulsive behaviour in various disorders
What are three transdiagnostic processes for compulsivity (just mention them)?
- Learning processes (reinforcement/punishment, types of conditioning)
- Cognitive control processes
- Neurobiological processes
What does endophenotype mean and how does it tie in with genes and phenotypes?
A bio/psych mechanisms underlying a disorder/behaviour
- Seen as a link between genes and phenotype (behavioural expression)
How does the research domain criteria initiative (RDoC) consider mental health?
In the context of major domains of psych/neurobio processes, as opposed to within established diagnostic categories
What is the clinical relevance of a transdiagnostic perspective on compulsivity?
- May open up new ways of exploring their development and co-morbidity
- Ultimately provide new targets for prevention and treatment
What is the intention-behaviour gap?
People have explicit decisions to change their behaviour, but fail to take action
- A medium/large change in intention > small/medium change in behaviour
To what models does the intention-behaviour gap phenomena pose a problem? Why?
To motivational models; they assume intention is the main determinant of behaviour
- Thus, this phenomena clearly goes against that
Health Belief Model, Theory of Reasoned Action & Theory of Planned Behaviour
On what two things does habit formation depend?
- Repetition
- Stable context
As of Thorndike, what are habits?
Instrumental responses that are triggered by stimuli- they do not depend on the current motivation for the outcome of behaviour
- Stimulus > S-R reinforcement > Response
Advantage of habits?
- Behavioural autonomy = efficient (easy, fast and low effort)
What is a disadvantage of habits?
That they are inflexible (hard to change)
What two methods can be used to investigate real-life habits?
- Field experiments
- Self-report measures
Context and repitition are previously established as important for habit formation, what third factor is also important for habit formation?
Short-term rewards (i.e., long-term consequences do not affect habit formation, and instead are driven by short-term rewards)
When do habits override intentions and vice versa?
This depends on self-control resources
How does high/low self-control play a role in habits vs. intentions?
High self-control:
- Intentions as determinant of behaviour
- Habits can support intentions (this frees up cognitive resources)
- Habits can conflict with intentions
Low self-control:
- Habits determine behaviour
Why is making healthy behaviour habitual advantegous?
Because low self-control = habits as a determinant of behaviour, thus, healthy habits can shield against motivation loss, etc.
What is the Habit x Intention x Self-Control hypothesis?
That of self-control playing a role in whether habits or intentions determine behaviour
Gardner theory
Which of the following tests can be used to determine whether behaviour is habitual or not (in the lab)?
A. Progressive ratio paradigm
B. Outcome-devaluation test
C. Conditioned approach paradigm
B. Outcome-devaluation test
- PRR = motivation/strength of reinforcement
- CAP = pavlovian conditioning
Which of these measures cannot be used to investigate habits?
A. Outcome-devaluation test
B. Sign tracking test
B. Sign tracking test
- It’s a pavlovian conditioning task
You’re conducting an investigation of the formation of an exercise routine. During 6 weeks, you want to obtain a daily measure that reflects the subjective experience of habit formation. Which measure would be optimal to use?
A. Self-reported habit index
B. Self-reported behavioral automaticity index
B. SRBAI
- Better for repeated measurements due to lower participant burden
- Remember that the SRBAI is a shorter subset of the SRHI
Why are common interventions (e.g., the warnings on smoking packages) not effective?
These are interventions and campains that try to motivate, change goals and provide information
- These do not directly impact S-R associations
How do implementation intensions (II’s) work?
- Both habits and II’s are mediated by S-R associations (because you link behaviour to specific cue)
- Through initial conscious planning, you create the association
- Promotion of behavioural repitition in a stable context
What are the working mechanisms of the if-then statement in II’s?
- If = heightened cue accessibility > enhanced detection of situation
- Then = Strong stimulus-response link > automatic activation of response
