The study investigated the effects of changes in environmental cues on habitual behaviors. In the first stage, the researcher developed a procedure to form a habit based on past theoretical formulations. Participants sorted title pages containing the word attitude into a blue box and those containing the word habit into a red box until they were able to do so quickly. In the second stage, the disruptive effects of cognitive load (counting backwards in twos), changes in goal-relevant environmental cues (i.e., cues that are necessary to achieve a goal) and changes in goal-irrelevant environmental cues (i.e., cues that are not necessary to achieve a goal) on the habit formed in the first stage were examined. Changes in goal-relevant cues had a disruptive effect on habit while changes in goal-irrelevant cues did not. Cognitive load also disrupted habit. However, it was the joint effect of changes in goal-relevant cues and cognitive load that caused the greatest disruption. It is concluded that habits should be conceptualized as mindless skills guided by slightly controlled processes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-3698 |
| Date | 01 January 2002 |
| Creators | Carvajal, Franklin O |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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