www hoddereducation co ukpsychologyreview Habit formation Matt Jarvis

What are habits? What makes an action a habit? An action that has become automatic through repetition* Triggered by an external cue Hodder & Stoughton © 2018 Triggered by an internal cue *In everyday speech we usually use the word 'habit' to mean something we do often. However the technical definition is different — something we do automatically.

Applications in health We all have healthy and unhealthy habits. Understanding habit formation can help us maximise healthy habits and minimise unhealthy ones healthy behaviours unhealthy behaviours Both regular tooth brushing (healthy) and adding salt to food (unhealthy) are habits formed by repetition of the behaviour in the context of a cue. Hodder & Stoughton © 2018

Lally et al (2010) 1 Aim: To test the hypothesis that an action performed daily will become automatic over time. Method: Ninety-six participants chose a behaviour and a cue to trigger it. They were asked to perform this action daily for 12 weeks. Each day they reported whether they had carried out the behaviour and rated how automatic it felt. Results: At first repetition led to increases in automaticity. However, this plateaued. Behaviours became as automatic as they were going to get after an average of 66 days but a wide range. Conclusion: There are wide variations in how long it takes to make a behaviour automatic. Hodder & Stoughton © 2018

Stages of habit formation There are four stages to forming a habit intention to

Conclusions • Habits can be defined as behaviours that take place automatically in response to a cue. • Regular repetition of a behaviour in response to a cue leads to its becoming automatic. • Habit formation is important in explaining and working with healthrelated behaviours. • It is possible to develop new healthy behaviours and to tackle unhealthy ones through manipulating habits. This resource is part of PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW, a magazine written for A-level students by subject experts. To subscribe to the full magazine go to http: //www. hoddereducation. co. uk/psychologyreview Hodder & Stoughton © 2018