What is one advantage of our ability to make behaviors automatic?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question restatement: The prompt asks for one advantage of our ability to make behaviors automatic. Given data shows a single provided answer: 'It frees up conscious awareness for other tasks.'

Since only one option is present, we can still analyze why this stated advantage makes sense in the context of automaticity in behavior.

- Opening idea: Automatic behaviors reduce cognitive load by shifting control from conscious deliberation to learned patterns, which helps conserve mental energy for other tasks. This supports the notion that automation frees limited attentional resources for novel or demanding activities.

- Detailed rationale for the given option: When a behavior becomes automatic, fewer cognitive steps are required to perform it. This means you don’t need to actively think through each action, allowing your conscious mind to focus on different tasks or problems. In real-world terms, you might tie your shoes or drive a familiar route without actively steering every micro-step, thus freeing attention for planning or monitoring new information.

- Potential implications: This advantage aligns with theories of habit formation and automaticity, where practice leads to streamlined processing. By reducing the need for conscious control, performance can become faster and more efficient, especially under time pressure or multitasking demands.

- Consideration of the broader context: While this option captures a key benefit, it’s worth noting that automatic behaviors can also have downsides (e.g., reduced flexibility or increased susceptibility to slipping into old habits in the wrong contexts). However, within the scope of the stated advantage, the core idea that automaticity liberates conscious resources is accurate.

- Why other options are not present: The absence of alternative choices means we cannot evaluate competing claims or identify any incorrect statements. If additional options were supplied, we would compare them against the concept of automaticity to determine which statements accurately describe advantages and which do not.

In sum, the provided statement reflects a valid and commonly cited advantage of automatic behavior: it frees up conscious awareness to handle other tasks.

PSY 1 S25 Practice Questions for Mini Exam 1

What is one advantage of our ability to make behaviors automatic?

View Explanation

Log in for full answers

Similar Questions

Question at position 49 Identify a true statement about the automatic system of reasoning and decision making.It involves processing that is extremely thoughtful.It involves processing that is rapid and associative.It involves analytical thinking.It involves effortful thinking.

Which of the following refers to when information is encoded with little or no conscious effort?

If you are folding towels while watching television, you may find that you don't have to pay much attention to the act of folding while keeping up with the storyline on the TV show. Folding the towels would be an example of a(n) ________ task.

Which of the following options would NOT be an important factor in automatic processing?

Automatic processing occurs when:

Processing information _______________ means information is processed effortlessly, automatically, and heuristically.

Summer locked her door when she left home this morning, but she can't actually remember doing it. This is because, for Summer, locking the door involved:

Automaticity:

More Practical Tools for Students Powered by AI Study Helper

Homework AI Solver

Stylized AI Paper Writer

Plagiarism Checker Assistant

Citation AI Academic Writing Tool

In-Class Translation Assistant

AI Note Generator

AI Quiz Answers

Past Exam Questions from University Test Bank

Smart Practice Assistant

Adaptive Practice

Making Your Study Simpler