Changing Behavior Using the Reflective-Impulsive Model

This chapter describes the reflective-impulsive model (RIM) and elaborates those features that are functionally important for behavioral interventions. The RIM explains behavior as being controlled by two interacting systems, which each follow a distinct set of operating principles. The reflective system operates based on propositional representations and syllogistic reasoning and affects behavior via goal-driven decisions mediated via a process of intending, which activates goal-congruent behavioral schemata until the goal associated with the decision is reached. The impulsive system operates based on associative representations, with behavioral schemata serving as a pathway to behavior that is also modulated by the reflective system. Within the impulsive system, motivational orientations of approach-avoidance as well as homeostatic dysregulation modulate the accessibility of representations in the impulsive system and, thereby, its reactivity to stimuli. The impulsive system operates at a higher degree of automaticity compared to the reflective system but is, at the same time, constrained in its processing capabilities such as being unable to process negations. Interventions based on the RIM typically aim to change evaluative associations, to prevent deprivation-driven hyper-reactivity to stimuli, and to change approach/avoidance tendencies via computer-based training. Although there are several demonstrations of their effectiveness, there is still ongoing debate about the mediators and boundary conditions of these interventions.