AUTOMACITY
Tania Akram
BS (hons)-psychology
DEFINITION
 “It is the ability to do things without occupying the
mind with the low-level details required, allowing it
to become an automatic response pattern or habit
EXAMPLES
 Walking, speaking, bicycle riding, driving, or playing
an instrument
TYPES OF PROCESSING
 There are two types of processing
1. Controlled processing
2. Automatic processing
Controlled processing
 Controlled processing requires some conscious
control to complete itself.
Example:
Driving a car, using a computer
Automatic processing
 Automatic processes complete themselves
without conscious control by subject.
Example
Brushing,walking,eating
Automatic processing
 Different tasks require different amount of
mental efforts to perform them.
 Some become so well practiced and
routine that they require very minimal
mental capacity.
 Cognitive psychologists use the term
“automatic processing” for such skills.
Automatic and Practice
 As much we practiced a task, mental
capacity require to perform it minimized.
 The more a process practiced the less
attention it requires.
Automaticity and Our Cognitive
Process:
 Shriffrin & Schneider argue that it is best to
think of automaticity as a matter of degree
rather than a distinct category. We can
describe the way through which practice
affects attentional limitations through a
study conducted by Underwood (1974) on
a psychologist named Moray. Who has
spent many years studying shadowing
(split attention studies).
 Moray can report most of the unattended
channels because for him shadowing has
become automatic.
 Automaticity or automatic processing
develops from the slower more resource-
limited controlled processing.
Example
 Crawl before you walk, and walk before
you run – slow and controlled leads to
fast and automatic.
When is a skill automatic?
According to posner and Snyder (1975) a
skill is automatic if it:
1. Occurs without intention.
2. Does not give rise to conscious
awareness.
3. Does not interfere with other mental
activities.
Pros and cons of automaticity
Pros:
1. It allows us to perform routine activities
without much concentration or mental
effort
2. It doesn’t require much attention.
3. It completes themselves without
conscious control by the subject
Cons:
1. We may make silly mistakes.
2. We may fall to remember what we did.
3. We are not able to show others how we
do a task
EXPERIMENTS:
 Shriffrin & Dumais (1982) and Shriffrin &
Schneider (1977) performed a series of
experiments contrasting controlled VS.
Automatic processing.
Shriffrin & Dumais’s experiment
 In their experiments, subjects were
presented with visual arrays. The subjects
were given a target letter or number and
instructed to scan a series of visual
displays for the target.
Features of experiments
 Frame size
 Categories of conditions
 Relationship between target and other
items of frame.
Frame size
 Each frame has one, two or four
characters on it. This factor is referred to
as frame size.
G T H I L
5 characters
G T H I J K L 1 2 I
9 characters
Categories of conditions
 There are two types of conditions:
1.Same category condition
2.Different category condition
Same category condition
 In it the target is a letter as well as all the
characters on the frame and you have to
recognize one letter out of them.
Example
G K L M N R S Y Z K N
Different category condition
 In it the target is a number surrounded by
letters on the frame.
Example
G K 3 L M N R 5 S Y Z K N
 If the target appears on the frame,
subject responds “Yes”, if it doesn’t
appear on the frame the subject responds
“No”.
RESULTS
In the different category condition:
 Reaction time was 80 milliseconds and
accuracy was 95%
 No effect of frame size
In the same category condition:
 Reaction time was 400 milliseconds and
accuracy was 95%.
 Accuracy and RT distorted as frame size
increased.
Shiffrin and Schneider’s
experiment
 Thy ran another experiment to check
whether practice can make a difficult task
easy one.
 In this experiment the target always came
from one set of letters.
 These target letters were B C D F G H J K
L and the distracters were Q R S T V W X
Y Z.
 After 2100 trails subjects were at the
same level of accuracy and reaction time
as the different condition in the previous
experiment.
 Thus subject needs 2100 trails of practice
to become as much responsive as in
different category condition.
Results
 Reaction time =80 ms Accuracy =95%
 Results shows that practice can make a
difficult task an easy one.
Criteria for automaticity
 Hasher and Zacks (1979) proposed five
criteria to distinguish between automatic
and control processes.
 They also made predictions based on
these five criteria
 These five criteria are following:
1. Intentional vs. Incidental learning:
2. Effect of instruction and practice:
3. Task interference
4. Depression or high arousal
5. Developmental trends
Intentional vs. Incidental learning
 Intentional learning:
“Intentional learning occurs when we
deliberately try to learn something”.
Example
 Learning of how to ride a bicycle
 How to make a presentation
Incidental learning
 “It occurs when we are not deliberately
trying to learn something”.
Example
 Parents say their children do not lie but
parents lie themselves. Children learn
their actions rather saying.
 Incidental learning is as effective as
intentional learning for automatic
processes but is less effective for effortful
learning.
 Because in incidental learning we are not
consciously learn which is a necessary
thing in effortful learning.
Effect of instruction and practice
 Both practice and instruction effect
effortful processes as both help in
learning well.
 But instructions on how to perform a task
and practice don’t effect automatic
processes because they are already
learned so well.
Example
 Expert cricketer come in ground and coach says
when you see ball hit it. It is not necessary to say
because expert cricketer already knows what he has
to do.
Task interference
 Automatic processes shouldn’t interfere
with each other because they require little
or no capacity.
 Effortful processes require considerable
capacity and should interfere with each
other when they exceed the amount of
available capacity.
Depression or high arousal
 Emotional states such as depression or high
emotional arousal can reduce the effectiveness of
effortful processes.
 if we are in sad mood and someone give us a
difficult and demanding task we can’t concentrate on
that task and can’t learn well.
Example
 When we are in sad mood we are not able
to learn and pay attention in class room.
 Automatic processes aren’t affected by
emotional states.
Example
 If we have to brush our teeth we can do it
even if we are in sad mood.
Developmental trends
 Automatic processes show little change with age.
 Once a task is practiced then the age doesn’t matter.
 They (most of automatic processes) acquired early in
life and do not decline in old age.
 Effortful processes show developmental
changes. They are not performed as well
by young children or the elderly.
 There are many things that old people
can’t perform. Because these Tasks
demand some capacity level or
concentration.
Example
 An old man can’t learn well and easily to
drive a car as a young person can.
Conclusion
 The basic difference between automatic
and effortful processes, according to these
five criteria are:
Intentional vs. Incidental learning
 Automatic :no difference
 Effortful : intentional is better
Effect of instruction and practice
 Automatic : no effects
 Effortful : Improve performance
Task interference
 Automatic : no interference
 Effortful : interference
Depression or high arousal
 Automatic : No effects
 Effortful : poor performance
Developmental trends
 Automatic: NONE
 Effortful : Poor Performance

Automacity

  • 1.
  • 2.
    DEFINITION  “It isthe ability to do things without occupying the mind with the low-level details required, allowing it to become an automatic response pattern or habit
  • 3.
    EXAMPLES  Walking, speaking,bicycle riding, driving, or playing an instrument
  • 4.
    TYPES OF PROCESSING There are two types of processing 1. Controlled processing 2. Automatic processing
  • 5.
    Controlled processing  Controlledprocessing requires some conscious control to complete itself. Example: Driving a car, using a computer
  • 6.
    Automatic processing  Automaticprocesses complete themselves without conscious control by subject. Example Brushing,walking,eating
  • 7.
    Automatic processing  Differenttasks require different amount of mental efforts to perform them.  Some become so well practiced and routine that they require very minimal mental capacity.  Cognitive psychologists use the term “automatic processing” for such skills.
  • 8.
    Automatic and Practice As much we practiced a task, mental capacity require to perform it minimized.  The more a process practiced the less attention it requires.
  • 9.
    Automaticity and OurCognitive Process:  Shriffrin & Schneider argue that it is best to think of automaticity as a matter of degree rather than a distinct category. We can describe the way through which practice affects attentional limitations through a study conducted by Underwood (1974) on a psychologist named Moray. Who has spent many years studying shadowing (split attention studies).
  • 10.
     Moray canreport most of the unattended channels because for him shadowing has become automatic.  Automaticity or automatic processing develops from the slower more resource- limited controlled processing.
  • 11.
    Example  Crawl beforeyou walk, and walk before you run – slow and controlled leads to fast and automatic.
  • 12.
    When is askill automatic? According to posner and Snyder (1975) a skill is automatic if it: 1. Occurs without intention. 2. Does not give rise to conscious awareness. 3. Does not interfere with other mental activities.
  • 13.
    Pros and consof automaticity Pros: 1. It allows us to perform routine activities without much concentration or mental effort 2. It doesn’t require much attention. 3. It completes themselves without conscious control by the subject
  • 14.
    Cons: 1. We maymake silly mistakes. 2. We may fall to remember what we did. 3. We are not able to show others how we do a task
  • 15.
    EXPERIMENTS:  Shriffrin &Dumais (1982) and Shriffrin & Schneider (1977) performed a series of experiments contrasting controlled VS. Automatic processing.
  • 16.
    Shriffrin & Dumais’sexperiment  In their experiments, subjects were presented with visual arrays. The subjects were given a target letter or number and instructed to scan a series of visual displays for the target.
  • 17.
    Features of experiments Frame size  Categories of conditions  Relationship between target and other items of frame.
  • 18.
    Frame size  Eachframe has one, two or four characters on it. This factor is referred to as frame size. G T H I L 5 characters G T H I J K L 1 2 I 9 characters
  • 19.
    Categories of conditions There are two types of conditions: 1.Same category condition 2.Different category condition
  • 20.
    Same category condition In it the target is a letter as well as all the characters on the frame and you have to recognize one letter out of them. Example G K L M N R S Y Z K N
  • 21.
    Different category condition In it the target is a number surrounded by letters on the frame. Example G K 3 L M N R 5 S Y Z K N
  • 22.
     If thetarget appears on the frame, subject responds “Yes”, if it doesn’t appear on the frame the subject responds “No”.
  • 23.
    RESULTS In the differentcategory condition:  Reaction time was 80 milliseconds and accuracy was 95%  No effect of frame size
  • 24.
    In the samecategory condition:  Reaction time was 400 milliseconds and accuracy was 95%.  Accuracy and RT distorted as frame size increased.
  • 25.
    Shiffrin and Schneider’s experiment Thy ran another experiment to check whether practice can make a difficult task easy one.  In this experiment the target always came from one set of letters.
  • 26.
     These targetletters were B C D F G H J K L and the distracters were Q R S T V W X Y Z.
  • 27.
     After 2100trails subjects were at the same level of accuracy and reaction time as the different condition in the previous experiment.  Thus subject needs 2100 trails of practice to become as much responsive as in different category condition.
  • 28.
    Results  Reaction time=80 ms Accuracy =95%  Results shows that practice can make a difficult task an easy one.
  • 29.
    Criteria for automaticity Hasher and Zacks (1979) proposed five criteria to distinguish between automatic and control processes.  They also made predictions based on these five criteria
  • 30.
     These fivecriteria are following: 1. Intentional vs. Incidental learning: 2. Effect of instruction and practice: 3. Task interference 4. Depression or high arousal 5. Developmental trends
  • 31.
    Intentional vs. Incidentallearning  Intentional learning: “Intentional learning occurs when we deliberately try to learn something”.
  • 32.
    Example  Learning ofhow to ride a bicycle  How to make a presentation
  • 33.
    Incidental learning  “Itoccurs when we are not deliberately trying to learn something”.
  • 34.
    Example  Parents saytheir children do not lie but parents lie themselves. Children learn their actions rather saying.
  • 35.
     Incidental learningis as effective as intentional learning for automatic processes but is less effective for effortful learning.  Because in incidental learning we are not consciously learn which is a necessary thing in effortful learning.
  • 36.
    Effect of instructionand practice  Both practice and instruction effect effortful processes as both help in learning well.  But instructions on how to perform a task and practice don’t effect automatic processes because they are already learned so well.
  • 37.
    Example  Expert cricketercome in ground and coach says when you see ball hit it. It is not necessary to say because expert cricketer already knows what he has to do.
  • 38.
    Task interference  Automaticprocesses shouldn’t interfere with each other because they require little or no capacity.  Effortful processes require considerable capacity and should interfere with each other when they exceed the amount of available capacity.
  • 39.
    Depression or higharousal  Emotional states such as depression or high emotional arousal can reduce the effectiveness of effortful processes.  if we are in sad mood and someone give us a difficult and demanding task we can’t concentrate on that task and can’t learn well.
  • 40.
    Example  When weare in sad mood we are not able to learn and pay attention in class room.
  • 41.
     Automatic processesaren’t affected by emotional states. Example  If we have to brush our teeth we can do it even if we are in sad mood.
  • 42.
    Developmental trends  Automaticprocesses show little change with age.  Once a task is practiced then the age doesn’t matter.  They (most of automatic processes) acquired early in life and do not decline in old age.
  • 43.
     Effortful processesshow developmental changes. They are not performed as well by young children or the elderly.  There are many things that old people can’t perform. Because these Tasks demand some capacity level or concentration.
  • 44.
    Example  An oldman can’t learn well and easily to drive a car as a young person can.
  • 45.
    Conclusion  The basicdifference between automatic and effortful processes, according to these five criteria are:
  • 46.
    Intentional vs. Incidentallearning  Automatic :no difference  Effortful : intentional is better
  • 47.
    Effect of instructionand practice  Automatic : no effects  Effortful : Improve performance
  • 48.
    Task interference  Automatic: no interference  Effortful : interference
  • 49.
    Depression or higharousal  Automatic : No effects  Effortful : poor performance
  • 50.
    Developmental trends  Automatic:NONE  Effortful : Poor Performance