Automatic Processes

Definition

Automatic processes are unconscious practices that happen quickly, do not require attention, and cannot be avoided.

Analysis

Imagine you are driving a very familiar route, such as your daily route to school, the university, or your work. You mindlessly drive along various familiar roads and upon arrival, a friend asks you, “Did you see there's a new DVD/video store on the square near the church?” You did pass this square, as you always do, but you didn't notice the new store, and you answer, “Oh, I was thinking about our upcoming exam, I didn't even see the square, let alone the new store.”

From a psychological viewpoint, something very interesting happened here. How can you drive safely and negotiate traffic without consciously noticing where you are? Let's face it (just remember the first few times you drove a car), driving is really quite complicated. You have to carefully look at the road, at the traffic, and in your rearview mirror. You have to slow down in time before a curve, you have to steer, if you are driving a stick shift, you have to change gears. In addition, you have to do all these things more or less simultaneously. How can you do all of those things while thinking about your exam, that is, without any conscious attention directed at the driving?

The answer is that driving (assuming you are skilled and the route is familiar) is a largely automatic process. Of course you saw the square when you passed it; otherwise you could not have negotiated it. You cannot drive blindfolded. However, the process of driving through the square is so automatized that a fleeting glance of the square is enough. You do not need to pay conscious attention, and you do not have to interrupt thinking about the exam. In fact, if you drive a familiar route, you usually pay attention only to things that are unexpected. And those are the only things you later remember (“I did notice there was an accident on Main Street”).

The Four Horsemen of Automaticity

In the 1970s, psychologists started to distinguish between psychological processes that were automatic and psychological processes that were controlled. Automatic processes are unconscious (i.e., you are not consciously aware of them), efficient (they require no effort), unintentional (you don't have to want them to happen), and uncontrollable (once started, you cannot stop them). Controlled processes are the opposite: They are conscious (you have to be consciously aware of them), inefficient (they require effort), intentional (they only happen when you want them to happen), and controllable (you can stop them).

Soon thereafter, psychologists discovered a problem. According to the criteria outlined in the previous paragraph, relatively few psychological processes are [Page 86]fully automatic and even fewer are fully controlled. There are exceptions of course. If an object (such as a snowball) quickly approaches your face, you close your eyes. This is a reflex and it is fully automatic. It does not require conscious awareness, it does not require any effort, it is unintentional, and also uncontrollable (you cannot stop it). Conversely, writing is fully controlled. You need to be aware of it, it requires effort, it is intentional and controllable. However, most interesting psychological processes have both automatic and controlled elements. Think again about driving. If you are a skilled driver driving a familiar route, driving can be mostly unconscious (except when something unexpected happens). It is also highly efficient as you can easily have an interesting conversation with someone while you drive—that is, the driving does not require effort. However, it is intentional. You do not suddenly find yourself driving somewhere. You drive to school or work because you want to go there. Finally, driving is controllable. You can stop the process if you so desire.

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