该句使用固定搭配表达较高可能性，并用过去分词作后置修饰，使表达更准确。
Mental rehearsal is a critical step in breaking bad habits. Once you notice a bad habit and identify the specific times it occurs, you have already taken the first step toward change. Your next step is to determine the positive habit you wish to use to replace this negative one (note: the goal is to replace, not just erase the habit). Once you have identified the bad habit, its triggers, and your intended response, your next task is mental rehearsal.
Mentally rehearsing how to handle specific situations is vital for habit change. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University found that if we mentally rehearse ideal outcomes before performing a task, the prefrontal cortex—a part of the brain—is fully activated, greatly stimulating proactive action. The more thorough the mental rehearsal, the better the performance.
Medical research also indicates that mental rehearsal—the vivid and specific imagination of a behavior—helps mobilize the brain cells responsible for performing that actual behavior. Researchers also found that mental rehearsal is particularly important when attempting to replace bad habits with good ones. This is because the prefrontal cortex becomes highly active as individuals prepare to overcome habitual reactions, focusing intensely on upcoming events and their responses.
When the prefrontal cortex is dormant, people are more likely to fall back into deep-seated habits. Conversely, once we activate the prefrontal cortex through mental practice, We are more likely to implement our rehearsed, desired responses when facing similar situations.
心理预演是改掉坏习惯的关键一步。当你察觉到自己的坏习惯并确定其发生的具体时间时，你就已经迈出了改变的第一步。接下来的步骤是，确定你希望用哪种正面习惯来取代这一负面习惯（请注意，是取代而非单纯抹除）。一旦确定了坏习惯及其发生的场景，以及应对这些场景的具体策略，你接下来的任务便是进行心理预演。
在内心预演如何应对特殊场合，对于改变习惯至关重要。匹兹堡大学和卡内基梅隆大学的研究人员发现，如果在执行任务前在脑海中预演理想的结果，大脑的额叶皮层将被全面调动，从而极大地激发我们的积极行动力。心理预演越充分，任务执行的效果就越好。
医学研究也表明，心理预演——即对某种行为进行生动而具体的想象——有助于调动那些执行实际行为的大脑细胞。研究人员同时还发现，人们在力图以好习惯取代坏习惯时，心理预演尤其重要。因为当人们准备克服某种习惯性反应时，额叶皮层会变得非常活跃，全身心地关注即将发生的事情及相关反应。
在额叶皮层休眠的状态下，人们很容易陷入根深蒂固的行为中。反之，当我们通过心理演练激活了额叶皮层后，再次面对类似场合时，我们将更有可能实践预演中的期望反应。