{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T14:59:15Z","timestamp":1790866755484,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":76,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781827200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000288","name":"Royal Society","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000288","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000275","name":"Leverhulme Trust","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000275","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The formation of habits, whereby learnt actions come to be performed automatically with repetition and practice, is a well-established focus for studies in psychology. This contrasts with evolutionarily motivated studies of learning, which typically view behavior as either learnt or fixed, to elucidate the ecological conditions where each predominates. Here, we envisage habit formation functioning to free up limited mental resources (e.g., attention), potentially improving an individual\u2019s ability to multitask. As an ecologically relevant case, we investigate exploration\u2013exploitation in foraging under predation risk. In our model, a forager does not know the quality of feeding options, but can learn from the rewards they give. When the environment occasionally changes, individuals can attend to exploration of feeding options in the new conditions. The options can then become habitually exploited, freeing attention for antipredatory vigilance. Via evolutionary simulations, we show that evolutionarily stable forming and breaking of foraging habits can substantially reduce mortality from predation, without drastically reducing foraging success, when environmental conditions remain stable enough between changes. We identify factors promoting habit formation, such as the repetition of actions that yield predictable rewards, and also discuss the role of habits more generally, including their relation to ideas about bounded rationality in theories of decision-making. In conclusion, we argue that exploration\u2013exploitation strategies involving the forming and breaking of habits are a type of behavioral flexibility that is likely to be selected for under a range of ecological conditions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/evlett\/qrag024","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,2]],"date-time":"2026-06-02T11:33:38Z","timestamp":1780400018000},"page":"463-474","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Evolution of behavioral flexibility and the forming and breaking of habits"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8621-6977","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Olof","family":"Leimar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Stockholm University Department of Zoology, , Stockholm ,","place":["Sweden"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sasha R X","family":"Dall","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter , Penryn ,","place":["United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter","family":"Hammerstein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt University Berlin , Berlin ,","place":["Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alasdair I","family":"Houston","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol , Bristol ,","place":["United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7263-2846","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bram","family":"Kuijper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter , Penryn ,","place":["United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"John M","family":"McNamara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Mathematics, University of Bristol , Bristol ,","place":["United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"114","DOI":"10.3758\/s13420-024-00647-y","article-title":"To know or not to know? Curiosity and the value of prospective information in animals","volume":"53","author":"Ajuwon","year":"2025","journal-title":"Learning & Behavior"},{"issue":"4","key":"2026100110221135900_bib2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"943","DOI":"10.1093\/beheco\/arx007","article-title":"What\u2019s flexible in behavioral flexibility?","volume":"28","author":"Audet","year":"2017","journal-title":"Behavioral Ecology"},{"issue":"2","key":"2026100110221135900_bib3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"235","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1013689704352","article-title":"Finite-time analysis of the multiarmed bandit problem","volume":"47","author":"Auer","year":"2002","journal-title":"Machine Learning"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/C2014-0-01423-2","volume-title":"Animal vigilance: Monitoring predators and competitors","author":"Beauchamp","year":"2015"},{"issue":"9","key":"2026100110221135900_bib5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1214","DOI":"10.1038\/nn1954","article-title":"Learning the value of information in an uncertain world","volume":"10","author":"Behrens","year":"2007","journal-title":"Nature Neuroscience"},{"issue":"4","key":"2026100110221135900_bib6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e34578","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0034578","article-title":"The glass is half-full: Overestimating the quality of a novel environment is advantageous","volume":"7","author":"Berger-Tal","year":"2012","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"11","key":"2026100110221135900_bib7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1285","DOI":"10.1038\/s42256-023-00745-y","article-title":"Mode switching in organisms for solving explore-versus-exploit problems","volume":"5","author":"Biswas","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nature Machine Intelligence"},{"issue":"4","key":"2026100110221135900_bib8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"349","DOI":"10.3758\/s13420-021-00488-z","article-title":"Context, attention, and the switch between habit and goal-direction in behavior","volume":"49","author":"Bouton","year":"2021","journal-title":"Learning & Behavior"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"88","DOI":"10.1002\/jeab.894","article-title":"Habit and persistence","volume":"121","author":"Bouton","year":"2024","journal-title":"Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior"},{"issue":"Oct","key":"2026100110221135900_bib10","first-page":"213","article-title":"R-MAX\u2014a general polynomial time algorithm for near-optimal reinforcement learning","volume":"3","author":"Brafman","year":"2002","journal-title":"Journal of Machine Learning Research"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2024.10.006","article-title":"Leveraging cognitive neuroscience for making and breaking real-world habits","volume":"29","author":"Buabang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences"},{"issue":"10","key":"2026100110221135900_bib12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e1010642","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1010642","article-title":"Vigilance, arousal, and acetylcholine: Optimal control of attention in a simple detection task","volume":"18","author":"Chebolu","year":"2022","journal-title":"PLoS Computational Biology"},{"issue":"1481","key":"2026100110221135900_bib13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"933","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2007.2098","article-title":"Should I stay or should I go? How the human brain manages the trade-off between exploitation and exploration","volume":"362","author":"Cohen","year":"2007","journal-title":"Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib14","first-page":"15","article-title":"Attention, \u201capprehension\u201d and gerbils searching in patches","volume":"38","author":"Dall","year":"2001","journal-title":"Annales Zoologici Fennici"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.5962\/bhl.title.82303","volume-title":"On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life","author":"Darwin","year":"1859"},{"issue":"12","key":"2026100110221135900_bib16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1704","DOI":"10.1038\/nn1560","article-title":"Uncertainty-based competition between prefrontal and dorsolateral striatal systems for behavioral control","volume":"8","author":"Daw","year":"2005","journal-title":"Nature Neuroscience"},{"issue":"7095","key":"2026100110221135900_bib17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"876","DOI":"10.1038\/nature04766","article-title":"Cortical substrates for exploratory decisions in humans","volume":"441","author":"Daw","year":"2006","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"4","key":"2026100110221135900_bib18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"335","DOI":"10.1080\/09548980601004024","article-title":"Phasic norepinephrine: A neural interrupt signal for unexpected events","volume":"17","author":"Dayan","year":"2006","journal-title":"Network: Computation in Neural Systems"},{"issue":"11","key":"2026100110221135900_bib19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1218","DOI":"10.1038\/81504","article-title":"Learning and selective attention","volume":"3","author":"Dayan","year":"2000","journal-title":"Nature Neuroscience"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib20","first-page":"453","article-title":"Continual optimistic initialization for value-based reinforcement learning","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems","author":"Dey","year":"2024"},{"issue":"2","key":"2026100110221135900_bib21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"312","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuron.2013.09.007","article-title":"Goals and habits in the brain","volume":"80","author":"Dolan","year":"2013","journal-title":"Neuron"},{"issue":"3","key":"2026100110221135900_bib22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"842","DOI":"10.1093\/beheco\/arv184","article-title":"Environmental complexity favors the evolution of learning","volume":"27","author":"Dridi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Behavioral Ecology"},{"issue":"1427","key":"2026100110221135900_bib23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1539","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2002.1063","article-title":"Behavioural and ecological consequences of limited attention","volume":"357","author":"Dukas","year":"2002","journal-title":"Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences"},{"issue":"4","key":"2026100110221135900_bib24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"197","DOI":"10.1159\/000076781","article-title":"Causes and consequences of limited attention","volume":"63","author":"Dukas","year":"2004","journal-title":"Brain Behavior and Evolution"},{"issue":"11","key":"2026100110221135900_bib25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e4429","DOI":"10.1002\/ecy.4429","article-title":"Measuring the benefit of a defensive trait: Vigilance and survival probability","volume":"105","author":"Ellsworth","year":"2024","journal-title":"Ecology"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.1093\/beheco\/ars085","article-title":"Exposing the behavioral gambit: The evolution of learning and decision rules","volume":"24","author":"Fawcett","year":"2013","journal-title":"Behavioral Ecology"},{"issue":"1608","key":"2026100110221135900_bib27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"333","DOI":"10.1098\/rspb.2006.3751","article-title":"Plasticity in animal personality traits: Does prior experience alter the degree of boldness?","volume":"274","author":"Frost","year":"2006","journal-title":"Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences"},{"issue":"11","key":"2026100110221135900_bib28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e1004567","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1004567","article-title":"A unifying probabilistic view of associative learning","volume":"11","author":"Gershman","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLoS Computational Biology"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib29","article-title":"The adaptive toolbox","volume-title":"Bounded rationality: The adaptive toolbox","author":"Gigerenzer","year":"2001"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"451","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-psych-120709-145346","article-title":"Heuristic decision making","volume":"62","author":"Gigerenzer","year":"2011","journal-title":"Annual Review of Psychology"},{"issue":"4","key":"2026100110221135900_bib31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"650","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.103.4.650","article-title":"Reasoning the fast and frugal way: Models of bounded rationality","volume":"103","author":"Gigerenzer","year":"1996","journal-title":"Psychological Review"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.1016\/j.endeavour.2016.01.004","article-title":"The challenge of instinctive behaviour and Darwin\u2019s theory of evolution","volume":"40","author":"Gordillo-Garc\u00eda","year":"2016","journal-title":"Endeavour"},{"issue":"1540","key":"2026100110221135900_bib33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"695","DOI":"10.1098\/rspb.2003.2648","article-title":"Coping with divided attention: The advantage of familiarity","volume":"271","author":"Griffiths","year":"2004","journal-title":"Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences"},{"issue":"13","key":"2026100110221135900_bib34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e2423068122","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2423068122","article-title":"How circuits for habits are formed within the basal ganglia","volume":"122","author":"Grillner","year":"2025","journal-title":"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America"},{"issue":"20","key":"2026100110221135900_bib35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"R1088","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2016.06.041","article-title":"The basal ganglia over 500 million years","volume":"26","author":"Grillner","year":"2016","journal-title":"Current Biology"},{"issue":"1298","key":"2026100110221135900_bib36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"375","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.1993.0123","article-title":"General results concerning the trade-off between gaining energy and avoiding predation","volume":"341","author":"Houston","year":"1993","journal-title":"Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"12","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroscience.2016.03.021","article-title":"The neural basis of reversal learning: An updated perspective","volume":"345","author":"Izquierdo","year":"2017","journal-title":"Neuroscience"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"235","DOI":"10.1016\/0003-3472(95)80172-3","article-title":"Escalated fighting behaviour incurs increased predation risk","volume":"49","author":"Jakobsson","year":"1995","journal-title":"Animal Behaviour"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e1011840","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1011840","article-title":"A neural network model for the evolution of learning in changing environments","volume":"20","author":"Kozielska","year":"2024","journal-title":"PLoS Computational Biology"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"173","DOI":"10.3758\/s13420-020-00421-w","article-title":"Behavioral flexibility: A review, a model, and some exploratory tests","volume":"48","author":"Lea","year":"2020","journal-title":"Learning & Behavior"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"arad109","DOI":"10.1093\/beheco\/arad109","article-title":"Flexible learning in complex worlds","volume":"35","author":"Leimar","year":"2024","journal-title":"Behavioral Ecology"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e1005916","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1005916","article-title":"Interrupting behaviour: Minimizing decision costs via temporal commitment and low-level interrupts","volume":"14","author":"Lloyd","year":"2018","journal-title":"PLoS Computational Biology"},{"issue":"7","key":"2026100110221135900_bib43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7612","DOI":"10.1609\/aaai.v36i7.20727","article-title":"Optimistic initialization for exploration in continuous control","volume":"36","author":"Lobel","year":"2022","journal-title":"Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence"},{"issue":"2","key":"2026100110221135900_bib44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"342","DOI":"10.1016\/0022-2496(65)90009-X","article-title":"An attention theory of discrimination learning","volume":"2","author":"Lovejoy","year":"1965","journal-title":"Journal of Mathematical Psychology"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"87","DOI":"10.1037\/h0022687","article-title":"Analysis of the overlearning reversal effect","volume":"73","author":"Lovejoy","year":"1966","journal-title":"Psychological Review"},{"issue":"4","key":"2026100110221135900_bib46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"555","DOI":"10.1037\/h0046275","article-title":"The effects of overtraining on a reversal and a nonreversal shift","volume":"55","author":"Mackintosh","year":"1962","journal-title":"Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology"},{"issue":"2, Pt.2","key":"2026100110221135900_bib47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1037\/h0026784","article-title":"Further analysis of the overtraining reversal effect","volume":"67","author":"Mackintosh","year":"1969","journal-title":"Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology"},{"issue":"4","key":"2026100110221135900_bib48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"276","DOI":"10.1037\/h0076778","article-title":"A theory of attention: Variations in the associability of stimuli with reinforcement","volume":"82","author":"Mackintosh","year":"1975","journal-title":"Psychological Review"},{"issue":"3","key":"2026100110221135900_bib49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1037\/dec0000033","article-title":"Unpacking the exploration\u2013exploitation tradeoff: A synthesis of human and animal literatures","volume":"2","author":"Mehlhorn","year":"2015","journal-title":"Decision"},{"issue":"5681","key":"2026100110221135900_bib50","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"642","DOI":"10.1038\/275642a0","article-title":"Influence of a predator on the optimal foraging behaviour of sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.)","volume":"275","author":"Milinski","year":"1978","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"2","key":"2026100110221135900_bib51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"292","DOI":"10.1037\/rev0000120","article-title":"Habits without values","volume":"126","author":"Miller","year":"2019","journal-title":"Psychological Review"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e64575","DOI":"10.7554\/eLife.64575","article-title":"Value representations in the rodent orbitofrontal cortex drive learning, not choice","volume":"11","author":"Miller","year":"2022","journal-title":"eLife"},{"issue":"10","key":"2026100110221135900_bib53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e1012383","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pcbi.1012383","article-title":"Understanding dual process cognition via the minimum description length principle","volume":"20","author":"Moskovitz","year":"2022","journal-title":"PLoS Computational Biology"},{"issue":"37","key":"2026100110221135900_bib54","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"12366","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.0822-10.2010","article-title":"An approximately Bayesian delta-rule model explains the dynamics of belief updating in a changing environment","volume":"30","author":"Nassar","year":"2010","journal-title":"Journal of Neuroscience"},{"issue":"6","key":"2026100110221135900_bib55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"532","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.87.6.532","article-title":"A model for Pavlovian learning: Variations in the effectiveness of conditioned but not of unconditioned stimuli","volume":"87","author":"Pearce","year":"1980","journal-title":"Psychological Review"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib56","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6587","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-021-26731-9","article-title":"A model for learning based on the joint estimation of stochasticity and volatility","volume":"12","author":"Piray","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nature Communications"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib57","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"20","DOI":"10.1007\/s40656-021-00376-9","article-title":"Who\u2019s afraid of epigenetics? Habits, instincts, and Charles Darwin\u2019s evolutionary theory","volume":"43","author":"Portera","year":"2021","journal-title":"History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences"},{"issue":"3","key":"2026100110221135900_bib58","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"245","DOI":"10.3758\/s13420-011-0025-7","article-title":"Pigeon and human performance in a multi-armed bandit task in response to changes in variable interval schedules","volume":"39","author":"Racey","year":"2011","journal-title":"Learning & Behavior"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib59","first-page":"64","article-title":"A theory of Pavlovian conditioning: Variations in the effectiveness of reinforcement and nonreinforcement","volume-title":"Classical conditioning II: current research and theory","author":"Rescorla","year":"1972"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib60","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1561\/2200000070","article-title":"A tutorial on Thompson sampling","volume":"11","author":"Russo","year":"2018","journal-title":"Foundations and Trends in Machine Learning"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib61","first-page":"13","article-title":"What is bounded rationality?","volume-title":"Bounded rationality: The adaptive toolbox","author":"Selten","year":"2001"},{"issue":"2","key":"2026100110221135900_bib62","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.1037\/h0042769","article-title":"Rational choice and the structure of the environment","volume":"63","author":"Simon","year":"1956","journal-title":"Psychological Review"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib63","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511572203.006","article-title":"From substantive to procedural rationality","volume-title":"Method and Appraisal in Economics","author":"Simon","year":"1976"},{"issue":"10","key":"2026100110221135900_bib64","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"635","DOI":"10.1038\/s41583-019-0180-y","article-title":"Adaptive learning under expected and unexpected uncertainty","volume":"20","author":"Soltani","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nature Reviews Neuroscience"},{"issue":"3","key":"2026100110221135900_bib65","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"168","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmp.2008.11.002","article-title":"A Bayesian analysis of human decision-making on bandit problems","volume":"53","author":"Steyvers","year":"2009","journal-title":"Journal of Mathematical Psychology"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib66","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"881","DOI":"10.1145\/1143844.1143955","article-title":"PAC model-free reinforcement learning","volume-title":"Proceedings of the 23rd international conference on Machine learning","author":"Strehl","year":"2006"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib67","volume-title":"Reinforcement learning: An introduction second edition","author":"Sutton","year":"2018"},{"issue":"3\/4","key":"2026100110221135900_bib68","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"285","DOI":"10.2307\/2332286","article-title":"On the likelihood that one unknown probability exceeds another in view of the evidence of two samples","volume":"25","author":"Thompson","year":"1933","journal-title":"Biometrika"},{"issue":"3","key":"2026100110221135900_bib69","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"167","DOI":"10.1038\/s41583-021-00428-w","article-title":"Cognitive and behavioural flexibility: Neural mechanisms and clinical considerations","volume":"22","author":"Uddin","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nature Reviews Neuroscience"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib70","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780195122343.001.0001","volume-title":"Developmental plasticity and evolution","author":"West-Eberhard","year":"2003"},{"issue":"Suppl. 1","key":"2026100110221135900_bib71","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6543","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0501844102","article-title":"Developmental plasticity and the origin of species differences","volume":"102","author":"West-Eberhard","year":"2005","journal-title":"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib72","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e49547","DOI":"10.7554\/eLife.49547","article-title":"Ten simple rules for the computational modeling of behavioral data","volume":"8","author":"Wilson","year":"2019","journal-title":"eLife"},{"issue":"4","key":"2026100110221135900_bib73","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"843","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.114.4.843","article-title":"A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface","volume":"114","author":"Wood","year":"2007","journal-title":"Psychological Review"},{"key":"2026100110221135900_bib74","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"289","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-psych-122414-033417","article-title":"Psychology of habit","volume":"67","author":"Wood","year":"2016","journal-title":"Annual Review of Psychology"},{"issue":"6","key":"2026100110221135900_bib75","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"918","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.88.6.918","article-title":"Changing circumstances, disrupting habits","volume":"88","author":"Wood","year":"2005","journal-title":"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology"},{"issue":"4","key":"2026100110221135900_bib76","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"681","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuron.2005.04.026","article-title":"Uncertainty, neuromodulation, and attention","volume":"46","author":"Yu","year":"2005","journal-title":"Neuron"}],"container-title":["Evolution Letters"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/evlett\/article-pdf\/10\/5\/463\/68557680\/qrag024.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/evlett\/article-pdf\/10\/5\/463\/68557680\/qrag024.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T14:37:36Z","timestamp":1790865456000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/evlett\/article\/10\/5\/463\/8711548"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]]},"references-count":76,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/evlett\/qrag024","relation":{},"ISSN":["2056-3744"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2056-3744","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published-other":{"date-parts":[[2026,10]]},"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]]}}}