The Balance Between Goal-Directed and Habitual Action Control in Disorders of Compulsivity

The present chapter offers a critical discussion of the possibility that an imbalance between goal-directed and habitual control towards reliance on inflexible habits is a trans-diagnostic factor in psychopathologies that have compulsive behavior as a core symptom. Compulsivity is broadly defined here as behavior that persists despite full awareness of far-reaching detrimental consequences. Behavioral evidence will be reviewed for an imbalance between goal-directed and habitual control in substance abuse, obesity and eating disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Recommendations for future research in this field will be discussed, as well as the relevance of the current theoretical framework for therapeutic interventions.