Temporal stability for individual differences in both habit learning and expression

Across two preregistered experiments (total N = 313), individual differences in stimulus-response habit commissions show strong, comparable temporal stability over one day and four months.

• Why it matters: Models of psychopathology often assume stable tendencies toward habitual control, but it was unclear whether differences in habit learning and expression persist as trait-like processes.
• What they did: Participants completed stimulus-response habit tasks using the same stimuli after one day or different stimuli after four months, and computational modelling tested whether learning and expression reflect stable traits.
• The result: Habit learning and expression show trait-like tendencies, with action automatization during practice linked to later habitual behavior, supporting stable individual differences relevant to habit formation.

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