ReviewFrontiers in psychology2019
On How Definitions of Habits Can Complicate Habit Research.
Review in Frontiers in psychology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Is probabilistic cuing of visual search an inflexible attentional habit? A meta-analytic review.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2022Pooled it
- How We Lost 90% of Participants on a Bad Bet: Results from a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial on Cognitive Bias Modification in Problem Gamblers.Journal of gambling studies · 2024Trial
- Does time pressure reveal habits? Divergent results from outcome devaluation and response remapping paradigms.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2026Article
- Unilateral Chewing Frequency and Self-Reported Mastication Satisfaction: A Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of oral rehabilitation · 2026Article
- The good and the bad: A qualitative investigation of students' perspectives on their problematic smartphone use.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2026Article
- Article
- Motivational control of habits: A preregistered fMRI study.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Characterizing Human Habits in the Lab.Collabra. Psychology · 2024Article
- Making and breaking habits: Revisiting the definitions and behavioral factors that influence habits in animals.Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior · 2024Review
- Back to the future: Progressing memory research in eating disorders.The International journal of eating disorders · 2023Article
- Commercially Available Mobile Apps With Family Behavioral Goal Setting and Tracking for Parents: Review and Quality Evaluation.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2023Article
- Action slips in food choices: A measure of habits and goal-directed control.Learning & behavior · 2023Article
- Habit formation viewed as structural change in the behavioral network.Communications biology · 2023Article
- The Situated Assessment Method (SAM2): Establishing individual differences in habitual behavior.PloS one · 2023Article
- How to Shape Healthy Habits Within Pandemic-Related Constraints?Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Environmentally Sustainable Food Consumption: A Review and Research Agenda From a Goal-Directed Perspective.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
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Abstract
The core message of this paper is that many of the challenges of habit research can be traced back to the presence of causal elements within the definition of habits. For instance, the idea that habits are stimulus-driven implies that habitual behavior is not causally mediated by goal-representations. The presence of these causal elements in the definition of habits leads to difficulties in establishing empirically whether behavior is habitual. Some of these elements can also impoverish theoretical thinking about the mechanisms underlying habitual behavior. I argue that habit research would benefit from eliminating any reference to specific S-R association formation theories from the definition of habits. Which causal elements are retained in the definition of habits depends on the goals of researchers. However, regardless of the definition that is selected, it is good to be aware of the implications of the definition of habits for empirical and theoretical research on habits.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.