(provided by candidate): There is overwhelming evidence that many of our social behaviors and complex mental processes occur without the guidance of conscious deliberation, that is, they occur """"""""automatically,"""""""" due to causes far removed from awareness (e.g., covert priming). For example, there is evidence that people automatically imitate the postures, facial expressions, and speaking styles of others, and that they automatically prepare to physically interact with objects. Recent accounts also speak of the automaticity of """"""""higher-lever' processes, as in the unconscious evaluation of perceptual stimuli and the unconscious initiation of, and successful execution of, goal pursuit. Yet, despite the plethora of evidence, surprisingly little is known about the processes by which these various effects take place. There are simply no well-defined process models to account for these ubiquitous findings. The primary aim of the proposed studies is to arrive at a more thorough understanding of the processes that give rise to automatic social behavior. To achieve this, we will look to several models of automaticity that have proven to be successful in other domains, such as in psycholinguistics and in action-planning research. These models will be used to further develop our own """"""""Inhibitor Model"""""""" of automaticity, and to generate new questions that research can address. By developing a clearer process model, we will be able to predict and understand the ways in which unconscious sources guide behavior. Without such a model, the mechanisms underlying automatic behavior, judgment, and goal pursuit will remain mysterious.
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| Morsella, Ezequiel; Wilson, Lilian E; Berger, Christopher C et al. (2009) Subjective aspects of cognitive control at different stages of processing. Atten Percept Psychophys 71:1807-24 |
| Morsella, Ezequiel (2005) The function of phenomenal states: supramodular interaction theory. Psychol Rev 112:1000-21 |
