Question 1: Given that human actions are consequences of two (or more) dissociable processes, namely habitual and goal-directed processes, what (if any) are the consequences for philosophical theories of action?
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Check the glossary entries on The Problem of Action, habitual process,
goal-directed process,
dual-process theory of instrumental action,
instrumental action,
Standard Solution, and
Causal Theory of Action.
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Glossary
Causal Theory of Action :
According to this view, an event is action ‘just in case it has a certain sort of
psychological cause’ (Bach, 1978, p. 361).
dual-process theory of instrumental action :
Instrumental action ‘is controlled by two dissociable processes: a
goal-directed and an habitual process’ (Dickinson, 2016, p. 177).
(See instrumental action.)
goal-directed process :
A process which involves ‘a
representation of the causal relationship between the action and outcome
and a representation of the current incentive value, or utility, of the
outcome’ and which influences an action ‘in a way that rationalizes
the action as instrumental for attaining the goal’ (Dickinson, 2016, p. 177).
habitual process :
A process underpinning some instrumental actions which obeys
Thorndike’s Law of Effect:
‘The presentation of an effective [=rewarding] outcome following an action [...] reinforces
a connection between the stimuli present when the action is performed and the action itself
so that subsequent presentations of these stimuli elicit the [...] action as a response’
(Dickinson, 1994, p. 48).
(Interesting complication which you can safely ignore: there is probably much more to say about
under what conditions the stimulus–action connection is strengthened; e.g. Thrailkill, Trask, Vidal, Alcalá, & Bouton, 2018.)
instrumental action :
An action is instrumental if it happens in
order to bring about an outcome,
as when you press a lever in order to obtain food. (In this case,
obtaining food is the outcome, lever pressing is the action, and the
action is instrumental because it occurs in order to bring it about
that you obtain food.)
You may encounter variations on this definition of instrumental in the literature.
For instance, Dickinson (2016, p. 177)
characterises instrumental actions differently: in place of the teleological
‘in order to bring about an outcome’, he stipulates that an instrumental
action is one that is ‘controlled by the contingency between’ the action
and an outcome. And de Wit & Dickinson (2009, p. 464) stipulate that
‘instrumental actions are learned’.
Standard Solution :
(to The Problem of Action). Actions are those events which
stand in an appropriate causal relation to an intention.
The Problem of Action :
What distinguishes your actions from things that merely happen to you?
(According to Frankfurt (1978, p. 157), ‘The problem of action
is to explicate the contrast between what an agent does and what merely happens to him.’)
References
Bach, K. (1978). A representational theory of action.
Philosophical Studies,
34(4), 361–379.
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00364703
Davidson, D. (1971). Agency. In R. Binkley, R. Bronaugh, & A. Marras (Eds.),
Agent, action, and reason, (pp. 3–25). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/0199246270.001.0001
de Wit, S., & Dickinson, A. (2009). Associative theories of goal-directed behaviour: A case for animalhuman translational models.
Psychological Research PRPF,
73(4), 463–476.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-009-0230-6
Dickinson, A. (1994). Instrumental conditioning. In N. Mackintosh (Ed.),
Animal learning and cognition. London: Academic Press.
Dickinson, A. (2016). Instrumental conditioning revisited: Updating dual-process theory. In J. B. Trobalon & V. D. Chamizo (Eds.),
Associative learning and cognition (Vol. 51, pp. 177–195). Edicions Universitat Barcelona.
Dickinson, A., & Pérez, O. D. (2018). Actions and Habits: Psychological Issues in Dual-System Theory. In R. Morris, A. Bornstein, & A. Shenhav (Eds.),
Goal-Directed Decision Making (pp. 1–25). Academic Press.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-812098-9.00001-2
Frankfurt, H. G. (1978). The problem of action.
American Philosophical Quarterly,
15(2), 157–162.
Kalis, A., & Ometto, D. (2021). An Anscombean Perspective on Habitual Action.
Topoi,
40(3), 637–648.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-019-09651-8
Neal, D. T., Wood, W., Wu, M., & Kurlander, D. (2011). The Pull of the Past: When Do Habits Persist Despite Conflict With Motives?
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,
37(11), 1428–1437.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167211419863
Schwabe, L., & Wolf, O. T. (2010). Socially evaluated cold pressor stress after instrumental learning favors habits over goal-directed action.
Psychoneuroendocrinology,
35(7), 977–986.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.12.010
Thrailkill, E. A., Trask, S., Vidal, P., Alcalá, J. A., & Bouton, M. E. (2018). Stimulus control of actions and habits: A role for reinforcer predictability and attention in the development of habitual behavior.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition,
44, 370–384.
https://doi.org/10.1037/xan0000188
Wood, W., & Rünger, D. (2016). Psychology of habit.
Annual Review of Psychology,
67, 289–314.