In the field of psychology, automaticity 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. It is usually the result of learning, repetition, and practice. Examples of tasks carried out by ‘muscle memory’ often involve some degree of automaticity.
Examples of automaticity are common activities such as walking, speaking, bicycle-riding, assembly-line work, and driving a car (the last of these sometimes being termed “highway hypnosis”). After an activity is sufficiently practiced, it is possible to focus the mind on other activities or thoughts while undertaking an automatized activity (for example, holding a conversation or planning a speech while driving a car).
Characteristics
John Bargh (1994), based on over a decade of research, suggested that four characteristics usually accompany automatic behavior:
- Awareness
- A person may be unaware of the mental process that is occurring.
- Intentionality
- A person may not intentionally initiate a mental process.
- Efficiency
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Source: Wikipedia
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