Hints
Check the glossary entry on The Problem of Action, habitual process and
goal-directed process.
Please also follow the general instructions for Short Essay Questions.
Lecture Notes
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The following sections
contain material relevant to answering this question.
Reading
If you are following the lecture notes and seminars, you should already know what to read. You do not need to consult this list. This is only for people coming to the assignment without using the lecture notes (not recommended).
Further Reading
Where to Find the Reading?
In some cases the references section already includes a link to help you find the reading.
If there is no link in the references section,
start by searching for the title (and, if that fails, by title and authors)
on google scholar.
If this fails, the library has resources.
If those fail, please check first with others on the course.
If you still have problems, you may email your seminar tutor.
Glossary
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.)
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
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/10.1093/0199246270.001.0001Dickinson, A. (1985). Actions and habits: The development of behavioural autonomy. In L. Weiskrantz (Ed.),
Animal intelligence. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
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/B978-0-12-812098-9.00001-2Frankfurt, 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/s11245-019-09651-8Thrailkill, 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