Habit formation and change

This review highlights emerging findings and new directions in research on habit formation and change. We first identify the cognitive, attentional mechanisms that contribute to habit formation. Then we show how habit is transforming the way researchers think about self-control, and how changing habits involves environmental pressures as much as intrapsychic forces. Finally, we describe big data and new technologies that offer novel methods to study habits outside the lab by capturing repeated actions in the natural environments in which they occur.