Throughout our lessons, one subject or term dealing with attention I really enjoyed learning about and that really stood out to me was automatic processing. Our text defines automatic processing as processing that occurs automatically, without the person intending to do it, and that also uses few cognitive resources (Goldstein, 2011). It is truly amazing how our brain can process information automatically without us even being aware that it is happening.
As I was reading the text and learning about automatic processing, I thought of a real-life personal experience that is a great example of how automatic processing is experienced in the real world. One night a couple weeks ago I was driving home from work the same way I have been doing for the past three years since starting my job there. An incident had occurred at work that day in which my co-worker and friend had been terminated. To me, the circumstances of his termination were unfair and undeserving and I was upset about the situation overall. As I left work, got into my car, and throughout my drive home all I could think about was the situation that had occurred earlier. Before I knew it, I had arrived at my house (which was about a twenty minute drive) without any recollection at all of how I got there! My initial reaction was I could not believe I drove all the way home without paying attention to where I was going. It was a scary thought to know that my attention was completely taken away from driving, which can be very dangerous and unsafe, and I was glad to make it home safely. The behavior of driving had become so automatic to me that it seemed to take care of itself while I was “lost in thought”. Also, since I have been driving for ten years now I have had many trials of practice behind the wheel which resulted in automatic processing.
Overall, I now realize how much automatic processing occurs in our lives from day to day and it has given me a new perspective on how our mind’s cognitive resources are used without us being aware of it. This phenomenon is an amazing concept and until I learned about it in this class, I was completely oblivious to it. If you think about it, I am sure there are dozens of instances or experiences you can think of in which automatic processing occurred throughout your life time. Now when I am driving I try to make sure I concentrate on where I am going so that I know I am driving safely. However, I am sure it will not be the last time this occurs as our minds are very complex and is it virtually impossible to be completely attentive to every behavior we perform throughout our daily lives.
References:
Goldstein, E. (2011). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research, and everyday experience (3rd ed.). Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.