Automatic and controlled processes: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:19, 20 August 2021

Revision as of 11:01, 9 November 2021

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One definition of a controlled process is an intentionally-initiated sequence of cognitive activities.<ref name=Scneider>{{cite journal|last=Schneider|first=Shiffrin|title=Controlled Automatic Human Information Processing|year=1977|issue=I. Detection, Search, and Attention}}</ref> In other words, when attention is required for a task, we are consciously aware and in control. Controlled processes require us to think about situations, evaluate and make decisions. An example would be reading this article. We are required to read and understand the concepts of these processes and it takes effort to think conceptually. Controlled processes are thought to be slower, since by definition they require effortful control; therefore, they generally cannot be conducted simultaneously with other controlled processes without task-switching or impaired performance. So the drawback of controlled processes is that humans are thought to have a [[Cognitive load|limited capacity]] for overtly controlling behavior. Being tightly capacity-limited, controlled processing imposes considerable limitations on speed and the ability to have divided attention. Divided attention is the ability to switch between tasks. Some tasks are easier to perform with other tasks like talking and driving.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Schneider|first1=Walter|last2=Chein|first2=Jason M.|date=May 2003|title=Controlled & automatic processing: behavior, theory, and biological mechanisms|journal=Cognitive Science|volume=27|issue=3|pages=525–559|doi=10.1207/s15516709cog2703_8|issn=0364-0213|doi-access=free}}</ref> Holding a conversation, however, becomes more difficult when traffic increases because of the need to focus more on driving than on talking.

Forster and Lavie found that the ability to focus on a task is influenced by processing capacity and perceptual load.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Forster|first1=Sophie|last2=Lavie|first2=Nilli|date=March 2008|title=Failures to ignore entirely irrelevant distractors: The role of load.|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied|volume=14|issue=1|pages=73–83|doi=10.1037/1076-898x.14.1.73|pmid=18377168|pmc=2672049|issn=1939-2192}}</ref> Processing capacity is the amount of incoming information a person can process or handle at one time.  Perceptual load is how difficult the task is. A low load task is when one can think less about the task they are involved in.  A high load task is when one needs to devotdevote all their focus to the task. If they become distracted then they won't be able to accomplish the task.

. In a study, participants were randomly assigned into two conditions, one requiring one task (small cognitive load) and one requiring two tasks (heavy cognitive load). In the one-task condition, participants were told that they would hear an anti- or pro-abortion speech and would have to diagnose the speaker's attitude toward abortion. The two-task condition had the same first assignment, but they were required to switch spots with the speaker and take their place after that. Even after being specifically told that they would be given further instructions at the next step, their cognitive load was affected in this study. Participants in the two-task condition performed more poorly than the one-task condition simply because they had the next task on their mind (they had extra cognitive load). Basically, the more tasks someone tries to manage at the same time, the more their performance will suffer.

===Processes with ambiguous categorization===