Overview & Description:

Automaticity refers to the ability to do things without occupying the mind with the low-level details required. It’s a result of learning, repetition, and practice.

Key Points:

1. Cognitive Processing: Certain tasks start as being controlled and demand a lot of attention, but with repetition, they become automatic.
2. Examples: Reading, driving, typing, and even some social behaviors can become automatic with practice.
3. Dual Process Theories: Many psychological theories, like the theory of reasoned action, incorporate the idea of both automatic and controlled processes.

Implications:

1. Skill Acquisition: Understanding automaticity can help in the fields of education and skill training.
2. Habit Formation and Change: Knowledge of how behaviors become automatic can aid in forming new habits or changing old ones.

References:

• Bargh, J. A. (1992). The ecology of automaticity: Toward establishing the conditions needed to produce automatic processing effects. American Journal of Psychology, 181-199.