We introduce a neureconomic "autopilot" model of habit, based on many studies of animal learning and human habituation. In this approach, there are two systems for valuation-- habit and goal-directed. The habitual system recalls the previous choice (which can be dependent on a contextual state),...

We conduct a study in which subjects trade stocks in an experimental market while we measure their brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging. All of the subjects trade in a suboptimal way. We use the neural data to test a “realization utility” explanation for their behavior....