The Enactive Approach to Habits: New Concepts for the Cognitive Science of Bad Habits and Addiction
Frontiers in Psychology February 26, 2019 Susana Ramírez–vizcaya, Tom Froese 105 citations
Understanding bad habits, from minor routines to addiction, is transformed by a novel perspective in Cognitive science. Moving beyond two traditional, opposing views of habits as bodily automatisms or mindful actions, this framework integrates Embodied and Extended Cognition. It defines habits as dynamic, self-sustaining networks of neural and bodily processes. Crucially for Mental Health Research Topics, a "bad habit" is one whose expression, while positive for itself, significantly impairs a person's overall well-being. This unified view advances Psychology's understanding of human Cognition, Social Representations, and Identity.