Lois Newman, age 14, of Kalispell, Mont., for her question:
HOW DO WE LEARN HABITS?
A habit is something a person learns to do over and over again without thinking about how to do it. Many of our everyday actions are habits. Most habits are learned actions that a person is aware of. The more he performs an actions, the easier it becomes.
A habit is different fromm an instinct. An instinct is behavior that is inborn, instead of learned.
Walking down a sidewalk takes some habits. Imagine how difficult it would be to walk down the street if you had to think of every action needed to take every step.
Psychologists tell us that a person will learn a habit only if it benefits the person in some way. This satisfaction is called a reward or a reinforcement.
Psychologists also say that a certain stimulus must be present each time the habit is carried out. As an example, a red traffic light is a stimulus to an experienced auto driver. It triggers the habit of pressing the brake pedal. To learn this habit, each new driver must practice under actual traffic conditions, seeing traffic lights, and learning to press the brake pedal when the light is red.
Exactly what happens in the brain when we learn habits is not known.
Some habits are simple and require only movements of the muscles. As a person approaches a door, he places his hand on the doorknob. This action is called a simple motor act.
The movement of opening a door seems quite natural, but the person had to learn this habit. A doorknob is a strange thing to a child when he encounters it for the first time. He may toy with the knob many times before he learns that he can open the door by turning the knob.
Some habits are more than simple motor acts. They are thoughts and attitudes we have about things and people. Psychologists call them habits of adjustment. Some of these habits are "good" and others are "bad," depending on how they affect other people.
Psychologists say that we learn "good" habits of adjustment to act as others expect us to act. Neat appearance and pleasant manners are considered good habits.
A person may learn "bad" habits when he thinks he can gain something from them. But they may really be annoying to others.
When a habit satisfies a person, he tends to keep it. When the habit offers no reward or becomes unpleasant, a person may break or discard it.
As an example, a person may believe that he gets pleasure from smoking. Because of the pleasure or reward, smoking becomes a habit. If the habit becomes unpleasant and no longer brings a reward, then a person may quickly stop smoking.
An older idea about habits, not supported by some psychologists, says that "paths" were made in the nervous system when an act was repeated.