How Samskāras Are Formed:

A Learning-Based Model of Behavioural Tendency

Abstract: The concept of Samskāra in Indian philosophical thought provides a framework for understanding how repeated experience contributes to enduring tendencies in thought and behaviour. Rather than interpreting Samskāra primarily as stored emotional memory, this paper examines its formation through the processes of repetition, reinforcement, contextual association, and behavioural automaticity.

Classical Yoga describes Samskāra as an impression produced by experience and action, while contemporary behavioural science demonstrates that repeated responses in stable contexts can develop into automatic cue–behaviour associations. Reinforcement-learning theory further suggests that outcomes influence the probability of repeating particular actions. This paper proposes that Samskāra may be studied conceptually as a tendency strengthened through repeated interaction between experience, response, and consequence, while maintaining the distinction between a philosophical construct and an empirical psychological mechanism.

1. Introduction
   Human behaviour does not begin anew with every situation. Previous actions influence the
   probability of future actions, particularly when similar circumstances recur. A person may repeatedly
   respond to criticism with withdrawal, to uncertainty with checking, or to success with increased
   effort. Over time, these responses may become increasingly predictable and require less deliberate
   decision-making.
   Pātañjali Yoga describes such continuity through concepts including Samskāra, vṛtti, karma, and
   kleśa. Rather than treating Samskāra as a literal neural trace, it can be examined as a philosophical
   account of how experience and action contribute to recurring tendencies.
   Contemporary behavioural science provides a different explanatory framework. Habit research
   demonstrates that repeated behaviour in consistent contexts produces associations between
   environmental cues and responses, increasing behavioural automaticity (Gardner et al., 2012; Wood
   & Rünger, 2016). Reinforcement-learning models further explain how the consequences of actions
   modify the likelihood of their future repetition (Schultz, 2016).
   The formation of Samskāra can therefore be examined through a learning-based model rather than
   solely through the language of memory.
2. Samskāra as a Consequence of Action
   In Pātañjali Yoga, Samskāra is closely associated with the continuity of mental activity. Yoga Sūtra
   1.50 describes the emergence of a Samskāra from truth-bearing knowledge, while Yoga Sūtra 4.8–11
   discusses the relationship among actions, latent tendencies, and their manifestation.

This framework suggests that experience is not psychologically neutral. Actions and mental processes can contribute to tendencies that influence subsequent behaviour. Importantly, this does not require interpreting Samskāra as a permanent object stored somewhere in the mind. It can instead be understood functionally: previous activity alters the conditions under which future activity occurs.

This functional interpretation creates a useful point of dialogue with behavioural science.

3. Repetition and Context
   A central finding in modern habit research is that repetition alone is insufficient to explain automatic
   behaviour. Habits are strongly influenced by context. When the same behaviour repeatedly occurs in
   the presence of particular environmental cues, the context itself can begin to trigger the response
   (Gardner et al., 2012; Bouton, 2021).
   For example, repeatedly checking a phone whenever anxiety arises may gradually establish an
   association between anxiety-related cues and checking behaviour. Eventually, the cue can initiate the
   behaviour with minimal conscious deliberation.
   This provides a different way of conceptualising Samskāra formation. A tendency may become
   established not simply because an experience was emotionally intense, but because a particular
   response was repeatedly selected within a particular context.
   Thus:
   Experience → Response → Consequence → Repetition → Increased tendency
   The process is behavioural and relational rather than merely representational.
4. Reinforcement and the Selection of Behaviour
   Reinforcement-learning theory provides a further explanation for why some responses become
   stronger than others. Behaviour is influenced by the consequences that follow it. When an action
   produces a rewarding or relieving outcome, the probability of repeating that action may increase.
   Dopaminergic systems are involved in reward-prediction-error signalling, in which differences
   between expected and actual outcomes contribute to learning (Schultz, 2016). Over repeated
   experiences, behaviour can therefore become increasingly shaped by previously learned outcome
   values.
   This is significant for understanding apparently irrational patterns. A behaviour does not need to
   produce a desirable long-term outcome to become reinforced. Immediate relief can strengthen
   avoidance, for example, even when avoidance produces greater difficulty later.
   From this perspective, a Samskāra may be understood conceptually as a tendency strengthened
   through repeated selection of a particular response.
5. From Deliberate Action to Automatic Response
   Habit research distinguishes goal-directed behaviour from habitual behaviour. Goal-directed actions
   remain sensitive to current goals and outcomes, whereas habitual actions can become strongly
   controlled by contextual cues (Yin & Knowlton, 2006; Wood & Rünger, 2016).
   Neuroscientific research has associated habit learning with cortico-basal-ganglia circuits, particularly
   changes in the relative contribution of associative and sensorimotor systems during learning (Yin &
   Knowlton, 2006).
   This transition is important because it demonstrates how a behaviour initially requiring conscious
   choice can become relatively automatic through repeated performance.
   A similar progression can be described conceptually in the formation of a behavioural Samskāra:
   Choice → Repetition → Association → Automaticity
   The Samskāra is therefore not necessarily the original event. It is the enduring tendency that emerges
   from repeated interaction between experience, action, context, and consequence.
6. The Role of Prediction
   A further perspective comes from predictive approaches to cognition. Contemporary theories propose
   that the brain continuously uses previous information to generate expectations about forthcoming
   events. Learning involves updating these expectations when outcomes differ from predictions.
   Context-dependent learning research emphasises that behaviour depends on the brain’s ability to infer
   which contextual model is currently relevant (Wilson & Niv, 2023). Repeated experiences can
   therefore influence not only behaviour but also expectations about what is likely to happen next.
   This offers a potentially useful interpretation of Samskāra: a persistent tendency may influence what
   an individual anticipates, notices, and subsequently does.
   For instance, repeated interpersonal rejection may contribute to an expectation of rejection in future
   social situations. The individual may then attend selectively to ambiguous cues, interpret them
   according to the established expectation, and respond in ways that further reinforce the pattern.
   The process can become self-maintaining:
   Expectation → Interpretation → Action → Outcome → Updated expectation
   This model shifts the discussion from “an experience is stored” to “previous experience changes
   the probability of future interpretation and action.”
7. Discussion

The formation of Samskāra can therefore be examined through three complementary learning processes: contextual association, reinforcement, and automaticity.

First, repeated behaviour within a particular context creates cue–response associations. Second, consequences influence whether the behaviour is repeated. Third, repetition can reduce the need for conscious deliberation and increase automatic responding.

This model differs from an interpretation of Samskāra as simply an emotional memory. A Samskāra need not correspond to a single remembered event. It may instead represent a broader tendency emerging from repeated patterns of action and experience.

The comparison remains conceptual. Classical Yoga and contemporary behavioural neuroscience employ different assumptions, aims, and methods. Samskāra is not equivalent to a habit, neural circuit, memory trace, or dopamine signal. However, behavioural science provides empirically testable mechanisms through which recurring tendencies can develop.

8. Conclusion
   The formation of Samskāra can be understood, at a conceptual level, as a process in which repeated
   experience, action, context, and consequence progressively increase the likelihood of particular
   responses. Habit learning explains the development of cue-dependent automaticity; reinforcement
   learning explains how consequences influence behavioural selection; and predictive models explain
   how previous experience shapes expectations about future situations.
   This approach moves beyond the idea that past experiences are simply “stored.” The more precise
   question is how past interactions alter the probability of what a person will notice, expect, choose,
   and repeat. Within this framework, Samskāra can be examined as a philosophical description of
   enduring behavioural tendency, while contemporary learning science offers empirical mechanisms
   for studying how such tendencies are formed.
   References
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   Wood, W., & Rünger, D. (2016). Psychology of habit. Annual Review of Psychology, 67, 289–314.
   Yin, H. H., & Knowlton, B. J. (2006). The role of the basal ganglia in habit formation. Nature
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The Connection Between Samskāras and Personal Growth: A Comprehensive Overview