What are the two different ways in which people process information and make decisions, according to the dual-process theories?
The slow system: reflective and reasoned
It makes deliberate decisions by carefully evaluating information. This system is explicit, controlled, conscious, and goal-directed.
e.g. creating a budget, where you consider expenses and priorities to develop a financial plan.
The fast system: impulsive and associative
It responds quickly and instinctively without extensive consideration, often operating automatically and unconsciously. This system is not always under control and relies on habits and routine reactions.
e.g. ducking for a falling tree without thinking about it.
What does the Law of Effect by Thorndike entail?
Behavior that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated
–> This shows how repeated behavior that is rewarded can develop into a habit
What is associative learning?
a learning process in which an organism learns to make connections between different events. It’s about the repetition of cue - behavior - outcome
e.g. a cue (Netflix) leads to a behavioral response (eating chips), and through repetition, this pattern becomes reinforced.
How many days does forming a habit typically takes?
Around 66 days
–> However, range was 18-245 days and is different per person/habit
Habits are automatic. What are the four horsemen of automaticity?
(so the four characteristics of automatic behavior)
Automatic behaviors are…
1. Efficient
2. Unconscious
3. Uncontrollable
4. Unintentionally
- Automatic behavior requires little to no cognitive resources
- This refers to being unaware of the behavior or the reasons behind it
- Automatic behavior can be difficult to control, even when you recognize it
- You didn’t plan or intend to engage in the behavior, but it happens anyway
When are habits being developed?
When they are frequently executed in the same context
–> same context doens’t mean same place (e.g. getting a coffee after your Teams lecture at home and getting coffee after your lecture at the University = same context)
What are four ways of measuring habits?
- Frequency of behavior X Context stability
- Self-report measures
- Primed Lexical Decision Task
- Outcome devaluation paradigm
- Using the combination of frequency of behavior and context stability provides a clear framework for measuring and understanding habits
- Subjective experience of habit/automaticity, e.g.
Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI) - This task can be used as a tool to gain insight into the automatic processes and associations underlying habits (after ‘cat’ you identify ‘dog’ faster than ‘god’ because it’s semantically related)
- Shows that habits are no longer sensitive to changing goals, e.g. People with a low habit of eating popcorn in the cinema ate less stale popcorn than people with a high habit of eating popcorn in the cinema
What are habits?
Learned sequences of acts that have become automatic responses to specific cues, and are functional in obtaining certain goals or end-states
What are implementation intentions?
A self-regulation technique used to support behavior change by
encouraging people to form concrete plans for how, when, and where they will engage in a desired behavior, often formulated in an if-then plan
What is the habit discontinuity hypothesis?
The Habit Discontinuity Hypothesis suggests that changing or avoiding the usual context disrupts (verstoord) old habits, providing a chance to rethink and adopt new behaviors.
e.g. When you move to a different house or University, it is a window of opportunity to start building new better habits
Formulating an if-then plan like ‘If I watch Netflix, then I won’t eat chocolate’ is NOT effective, why not?
Due to the Ironic Process Theory that says trying to suppress a thought, like “don’t eat chocolate,” makes you think about it more. Instead, focus on a positive action, like ‘If I watch Netflix, then I will eat fruit’, to avoid fixating on what you’re trying to avoid
