PSY2001 SEMESTER 2 - WEEK 5

Question 1

what is habits

Answer 1

strong associations in memory between contexts + responses that dev through repetition
relatively automatic, insensitive to change in value/contingency of response outcomes

Question 2

what should habit not be equated with

Answer 2

frequency of occurrence

Question 3

are habits part of who we are?- give study into defining self as drivers

Answer 3

Murtagh (2012)
those defining self as being driver didn’t find correlation between how often walk/cycle or drive

Question 4

are habits part of who we are?- give study into importance of eating fruit/veg and action

Answer 4

Verplanken & Sui (2019)- asked how important they felt to eat fruit/veg, then asked how much reflected them as a person
found correlation

Question 5

give evidence of habits being represented by strong associations between context/response in snacking (Adriaanse, 2011)

Answer 5

identify habits of what usually snacks on (habitual resp), what would eat if needed alternative
primed LDT, decide if letter string word/non (crisps etc)
slower response for alternatives

Question 6

do associations of context/response develop through repetition - explain Wood et al (2002) experience sampling study evidence for this

Answer 6

ppt recorded what doing at spec time, measured frequency perf beh, extent to which perf beh in same place, involvement of other
43% of action performed daily/usually same contex

Question 7

give 4 criteria in which habitual response automaticity establishes

Answer 7

doesn’t require deliberation
occur outside conscious awareness
insensitive to change in responses value
difficult to control

Question 8

does strong habit mean don’t need deliberations? - explain Aarts, 1997 research using strength of cycling habit and travel situation

Answer 8

• decide how travel for 9 trips - measured habit via frequency of mentioning bicycle)
• 16 descriptions of travel situations, each with 4 attributes
  
  • weather conditions
  • weight of luggage
  • departure time
  • distance to destination
• favorability of using bicycle in each travel situation
• number of attributes used to make decision
  found strong habit indiv were more selective using info of attributes of choice > weak habit indiviv, suggest habitual travel model choice based on small number trip-related cues

Question 9

do habitual response occur if not aware??- outline Wood et al (2002) study

Answer 9

if habitual then are more likely thinking about somethings else, so asked ppts to record what thinking about and found thoughts not corresponding to activity more common in habitual beh

Question 10

are habits insensitive to changes in value of response - Neal (2011)?

Answer 10

studied habit strength- freq eating popcorn in cinemas
context was cinema v meeting room
value of response was popcorn being fresh, or stale
habitual popcorn eaters eat sim amount even if stale/fresh as long as in cinema

Question 11

whats direct context cueing?

Answer 11

repetitive co-activ create direct link in memory between context and response representations via assoc learning = context triggers resp

Question 12

what is support for direct context cueing??

Answer 12

activating construct, like elderly stereotype, influence perf of relevant beh ie walk slowly

Question 13

what parts of brain does direct context cueing use?

Answer 13

PFC - goal-related neural structure

Question 14

whats implicit goal, regarding habit

Answer 14

habits develop when repeatedly pursue goal via specific behaviour in a given context
forms indirect-assoc btw/ context + beh in broader goal systems

Question 15

give evidence for implicit goal, regarding habit

Answer 15

behaviours like cycling only occur when relevant goal first made accessible

Question 16

what do goal-driven response usually like

Answer 16

dynamic, flexible, serve common goals

Question 17

how can a context acquire diffuse motivational value

Answer 17

when precedes a reward at some point in past

Question 18

give support for motivated contexts existence

Answer 18

monkeys learn that lights predict rewards
NT occur after the reward if no practice
if practice occur after stimuli

Question 18

is motivation just alone, enough to break habit (Webb & Sheeran metaanalysis, 2006)

Answer 18

changes in intentions led to larger changes in behaviour that ppts performed sporadically than in behaviours that could be repeated into habits
motivation alones unlikely as enough

Question 19

why do people fail to act on intentions- define counter intentional habits

Answer 19

intentions have smaller effects on behaviours performed frequently in similar situations

Question 20

name 3 reasons why so hard to break a habit

Answer 20

• not aware habits drive beh
• not aware of cues that trigger habit
• not aware of habit resp themselves

Question 21

name 3 strategies for breaking habits?

Answer 21

change circumstances, vigilant monitoring, make a plan

Question 22

one strategy of breaking habits is changing circumstances - explain Wood (2005) research into students moving into uni

Answer 22

measure frequency of exercise, read, TV and stability context
measure after moving, found strong habit decreased frequency if more change in location but weak habit don’t change so much

Question 23

one strategy of breaking habits is vigilant monitoring - explain Quinn (2010) research into identifying beh

Answer 23

ppts ident beh that try inhibit/change during day
measure strength of ppts habit, found monitoring strategy most effective > distraction, stimulus control for strong habit

Question 24

one strategy of breaking habits is make a plan - explain Holland, Aarts & Langedam (2006) for office recylced

Answer 24

employees asked to plan when, where and how would recycle paper, plastic cups measure recycling behaviour: weight of paper and cups in each ppts wrong bin at end of working day found initially dropped off, then maintain

Question 25

how does making plan a method of changing habit

Answer 25

forming implementation intentions create new association with critical cue that is then pitted against habitual association in “horse race” forming plan break habit via forming association with alternative response + weaken association with original response

Question 26

is planning an effective habit breaker strategy depending on strength of habit - explain Webb, Sheeran & Luszczynska (2009) with smoking

Answer 26

measured strength of smoking habit in those who wanted quitting and 1 half form implementation intention found strong habit slight improvement, weak got worse

Question 27

how can intention predict behaviours/habit (Song & Wood, 2006)

Answer 27

predicted how often student acted on intention/habits found acted on intention when weak/mod strength hab= utility of intention as predictor of behaviour declined as habit strength increased, supporting claim that habitual responding can be cued independently of peoples intentions

Question 28

compare persuasive message and other intev for behaviour change (Webb & Sheeran, 2006) for course enrollment, and exercising

Answer 28

when performance context changed with transfer, strong habits no longer cue automatically meaning context change disrupt strong habits performance, brought them under intentional control course enrollment- isn't easy repeat into habit exercising- ease rep into habit