Defining and Measuring Habits Across Different Fields of Research

Habits play an important role in our everyday behavioural repertoire, but they are conceptualised and measured differently across different fields of research. In this chapter, I compare the ways that habits are defined and measured by associative learning theorists, health and social psychologists, and those interested in the development of motor skills. The associative or knowledge structures that form once a habit has been acquired are also described and contrasted. Current theoretical debates about the representation of habits are discussed.