Author Question: Describe automatic and controlled processes. What will be an ideal ... (Read 107 times)

Frost2351 · **on:** Jun 20, 2018

Describe automatic and controlled processes.

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Describe the relationship between attention and consciousness.

What will be an ideal response?

nhea · **Reply #1 on:** Jun 20, 2018

Answer to Question 1

Automatic processes such as writing your name involve no conscious control. For the most part, they are performed without conscious awareness. Nevertheless, you may be aware that you are performing them. They demand little or no effort or even intention. Multiple automatic processes may occur at once, or at least quickly, and in no particular sequence. Thus, they are termed parallel processes.

In contrast, controlled processes are accessible to conscious control and even require it. Such processes are performed serially, for example, when you want to compute the total cost of a trip you are about to book online. In other words, controlled processes occur sequentially, one step at a time. They take a relatively long time to execute, at least as compared with automatic processes.

Answer to Question 2

Attention is the means by which we actively select and process a limited amount of information from all of the information captured by our senses, our stored memories, and our other cognitive processes. Consciousness includes both the feeling of awareness and the content of awareness, some of which may be under the focus of attention. Conscious attention plays a causal role in cognition, and serves three purposes. First, it helps monitor our interactions with the environment. We maintain our awareness of how well we are adapting to a situation. Second, it assists us in linking our past (memories) and our present (sensations) to give us a sense of continuity of experience. Such continuity may even serve as the basis for personal identity. Third, it helps us control and plan for our future actions based on the information from monitoring and from the links between past memories and present sensations.