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E. C. Tolman emphasized the purposiveness of behavior — the idea that much of our behavior is goal-directed. For instance, employees who aim for a promotion work diligently to meet their targets. Tolman argued that when classical conditioning and operant conditioning occur, the organism acquires certain expectations. In classical conditioning, a child might fear a dog because they expect it to bite. In operant conditioning, a person might consistently work overtime because they expect a...
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Habitual Behavior Is Goal-Driven.

Arie W Kruglanski1, Ewa Szumowska1,2

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park.

Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science
|June 23, 2020
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Habitual behaviors are goal-driven, not automatic. This study shows habits adjust to goal changes and persist due to new goals, integrating evidence on goal-directed and habitual actions.

Keywords:
expectancygoalgoal valuegoal-driven behaviorhabithabitual behavior

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Behavioral Neuroscience

Background:

  • Goal-driven and habitual behaviors are often contrasted.
  • Previous research has juxtaposed these two behavioral types.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between goal-driven and habitual behaviors.
  • To propose that habitual behavior is fundamentally goal-driven.

Main Methods:

  • Examining habit sensitivity to changes in goal properties (value, expectancy).
  • Analyzing the persistence of habitual behaviors.
  • Reviewing existing evidence on behavioral control.

Main Results:

  • Habitual behavior is sensitive to alterations in goal value and attainment expectancy.
  • Slower adjustments in habitual behavior may result from its routinized nature.
  • Prolonged persistence of habitual behavior can be explained by its association with a new goal.

Conclusions:

  • Habitual behavior is a form of goal-driven action.
  • This perspective integrates diverse evidence on behavioral control.
  • It aligns with a functional view of psychological processes, refuting purposeless behavior.