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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic and controlled processes | 1/2 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_and_controlled_processes | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T15:12:21.150741+00:00 | kb-cron |
Automatic and controlled processes (ACP) are the two categories of cognitive processing. All cognitive processes are theorized to fall into one or both of those categories. The level of attention and effort (cognitive demand) required by a cognitive process is the main differentiating factor between automatic and controlled processes. Automatic processes refer to cognitive processes that occur with little or no attention, low effort/control (low cognitive demand), and can occur in parallel with other cognitive processes. Contrarily, controlled processes refer to cognitive processes that occur with attention, effortful control (high cognitive demand), and occur serially. Controlled processes are typically slower than automatic processes, and are limited by the availability of cognitive resources.
== Characteristics ==
=== Automatic processes === When examining the label "automatic" in social psychology, we find that some processes are intended, and others require recent conscious and intentional processing of related information. Automatic processes are more complicated than people may think. Some examples of automatic processes include motor skills, implicit biases, procedural tasks, and priming. The tasks that are listed can be done without the need for conscious attention. That being said automatic effects fall into three classes: Those that occur prior to conscious awareness (preconscious); those that require some form of conscious processing but that produce an unintended outcome (postconscious); and those that require a specific type of intentional, goal directed processing (goal-dependent). Preconscious automaticity requires only the triggering proximal stimulus event, and occur prior to or in the absence of any conscious awareness of that event. Because they occur without our conscious awareness they are unnoticeable, uncontrollable, and nearly effortless. Postconscious automaticity depends on recent conscious experience for its occurrence. This postconscious influence on processing can be defined as the non-conscious consequences of conscious thought. The conscious experience may be intentional, or it may be unintentional, what is important is that the material be in awareness. Most things we are aware of are driven by the environment, and one does not intend or control the flood of these perceptual experiences, yet they still result in postconscious effects. In other words, we need to consciously engage in something and depending on the experience we will unconsciously think, and or behave a certain way. In the classic Bobo doll experiment a child watches a video of an adult acting aggressive towards a Bobo doll. Later when the child is put in the room with that same doll, the child was more likely to also engage in that act, versus children who didn't watch the video. In a study participants were primed with the stereotype of professors by being told to imagine a typical professor for 5 min and to list (a conscious act) the behaviors, lifestyle, and appearance attributes of this typical professor. After they were primed they had to perform a general knowledge task. The results were that the participants in the professor condition outperformed those in the control conditions (those not primed at all). Goal-dependent automaticity concerns skill and thought processes that require a goal to engage in them. This process is much similar to postconscious in that it requires conscious awareness to be initiated, but after that it can be guided outside of awareness by the unconscious mind. A good example would be driving a car: in order to drive a car, one needs to consciously have a goal to drive somewhere. When engaged in driving (only with enough practice) one can operate the car almost entirely without conscious awareness. However, more attentional control and decision making are needed when introduced to novel (reference) situations like driving through an unfamiliar town. The process needs to be learned enough that it can be automatic, requiring little conscious thought as to how to do it.