The Nature of Habit
In her research, Wendy Wood explores the nature of habit and why they are so difficult to change.
Habits are a way of learning from past experience. They are mental shortcuts, indicating what to do in a given context that is likely to get a reward. Fortunately, most of our habits are effective shortcuts that meet our goals with minimal decision making. But the world is constantly changing, and habits can keep us repeating past behavior when we don’t intend to do so (e.g. bad habits, action slips).
Dr. Wood is no longer advising students and cannot admit any new students.