Temporal stability for individual differences in both habit learning and expression
Abstract
Actions transition from goal-directed to stimulus-driven habits through repetition. Individual differences in the capacity to learn and control habits are central to current models of psychopathology, which assume that overreliance on habitual control drives maladaptive behaviors. However, whether these tendencies reflect stable, trait-like cognitive processes remains unclear. We examined the temporal stability of individual differences in habit learning and expression. Across two preregistered experiments (total N = 313), we assessed stimulus-response habits using the same stimuli after one day or different stimuli after four months. Evidence for stable individual differences in habit commissions was strong and comparable across experiments, with computational modelling further supporting trait-like tendencies for habit learning and expression. Trait-like tendencies were also reflected in action automatization while practicing stimulus-response associations, which was associated with future habitual behavior. Our findings have theoretical implications for our understanding of habit formation and its role in psychopathology.
Related
- Subtle positive facial expression recognition is enhanced by comedy viewing: individual differences in empathy and depressive tendencies
- Anticipatory Gaze Reveals Individual Differences in Implicit Sequence Learning Before Motor Performance
- Fear learning–induced brain dynamics predict individual extinction memory expression following transcranial magnetic stimulation
- Investigating the role of the hippocampus in the implicit and explicit expression of statistical learning in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy
- Respiration and individual differences shape behavioral and inter-brain synchronization
BibTeX
@misc{martinezlopez2026temporal,
title = {{Temporal stability for individual differences in both habit learning and expression}},
author = {P. Martinez-Lopez and J. J. Leon and F. Garre-Frutos and A. Vazquez-Millan and S. Molinero and T. Gimenez-Fernandez and M. A. Vadillo and D. Luque},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.64898/2026.11.04.764200},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.04.764200v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Temporal stability for individual differences in both habit learning and expression
AU - P. Martinez-Lopez
AU - J. J. Leon
AU - F. Garre-Frutos
AU - A. Vazquez-Millan
AU - S. Molinero
AU - T. Gimenez-Fernandez
AU - M. A. Vadillo
AU - D. Luque
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/04
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.11.04.764200
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.04.764200v1
AB - Actions transition from goal-directed to stimulus-driven habits through repetition. Individual differences in the capacity to learn and control habits are central to current models of psychopathology, which assume that overreliance on habitual control drives maladaptive behaviors. However, whether these tendencies reflect stable, trait-like cognitive processes remains unclear. We examined the temporal stability of individual differences in habit learning and expression. Across two preregistered experiments (total N = 313), we assessed stimulus-response habits using the same stimuli after one day or different stimuli after four months. Evidence for stable individual differences in habit commissions was strong and comparable across experiments, with computational modelling further supporting trait-like tendencies for habit learning and expression. Trait-like tendencies were also reflected in action automatization while practicing stimulus-response associations, which was associated with future habitual behavior. Our findings have theoretical implications for our understanding of habit formation and its role in psychopathology.
ER -