I wake up in the morning; I go to the bathroom and then brushed my teeth. Because of automatic processing, I don’t have to think what I do. I have already formed a habit of waking up then going to the bathroom and brushing my teeth. I do it without thinking what to do or what I am doing everyday. Knowing my favorite television channel, I just turn to that channel on every Sunday on a specific time. Memorizing or repetition can also be an automatic processing. Automatic processing is not consciously intending to engage in them without control. (Gregory &Bridget Robinson-Riegler, p.130) Without our control, we can be doing things unconsciously, sometimes it can mean a good thing and sometimes it can mean a bad thing. Action slips shows that automatic processing can be dangerous when we try to stop our actions.
Action slips is absentmindedness. One feature of automatic processing execute with little conscious monitoring is where our minds do things mindlessly and it’s where action slips occurs. Action slips requires much needed thinking while doing a task or tasks (G & B Robinson-Riegler, p.132). As I mentioned that I do things without thinking such as brushing my teeth; I could pick up a brush instead of tooth brush. That is an example of action slips. So I picked up a brush and saw what I was doing “oh man, a brush? What am I doing? Let’s look for a tooth brush!” now, I finally got through my thinking to get a tooth brush. Another example of an action slips would be riding a bike at a fast speed. I would ride my bike gracefully at a fast speed until I saw a car coming toward me. I would try to snap out of it and think what to do next to stop riding the bike. This kind of action can be as dangerous when a person don’t stop as quickly as possible because the result would be a severe accident.
Ironic process occurs when a person is over thinking or having high expectations while doing a task or tasks. Ironic process theory proves that this has something to do to assist or work for action slips. The cognitive psychology book shows that “behaviors can come out of nowhere due to heightened attention and the presence of too much conscious monitoring! Basically, paying too much attention leads to what Wegner (1994) terms ironic effects'” (G & B Robinson-Riegler, p.134). So when we pay too much attention, we can also fall into action slips when we work our minds too much. For an example, “our mental states produces unwanted actions”(Wegner, 1993.) when we are stressed from work, our behavior can produces dangerous action slips; like falling asleep while driving..
A repetition or interim memory is what short term memory hold. “This signifies that rehearsal in short term memory is thought to result in long term memory storage. And when information in long term memory is appropriate for dealing with present circumstances, it is brought back into short term memory (G & B Robinson-Riegler, p.138). Like that memory is recycled. My career goal as a substance abuse counselor or a counselor, I can practice my knowledge of psychology into my short term memory to long term memory. Working memory is what we can manage our thinking and understanding stored in our short term memory; “represents immediate memory as a dynamic set of process used not only for storage but also for active manipulation and consideration; and hold such ability like reasoning, language comprehension and problem solving (G & B Robinson-Riegler, p. 148-157). There are some people that has a working memory deficits; such as concentration problems, forgetting, distractions, problems with starting and completing a tasks, reading comprehensions and etc. (Sadie Dingfelder, 2005.) There are ways to improve our working memory if such problems occur; is by practicing concentrations, practice to avoid distractions such as closing the door to block out noises while working on a task, reading comprehension programs, and so on.
Until I become a counselor, I can retrieve my knowledge of psychology from my long term memory and put it in my short term memory to perform certain knowledge to be able to help a person in a short or long amount of time. Or when I am presenting a presentation at a school or a meeting, I will be able to use my memory from long term memory and put it into my short term memory to know my presentation and perform a public speaking. I can also use my understanding to help solve problems, to share perspectives, and being able to understand people’s language in meetings or one on one session. While working on a task or tasks, I can always make sure to make time focusing on a certain task and ask my co workers to email me if they need anything from me so that way I can concentrate on task/tasks.
Being able to use my short term and working memory will help me to perform my career in the future, that I must practice what I lack on. I lack on concentration and I can be easily distracted also I forget things sometimes. Now is the time that I can have all the time to make the best of being able to perform in such career is to practice and improve my short term and working memory daily.
Reference:
Gregory Robinson-Riegler and Bridget Robinson-Riegler. (2004-2008). Cognitive Psychology: Applying the Science of the Mind. Attending to and Manipulating Information. Second Edition. pg. 129-157.
Wegner, D. M., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1993). Mental Control and Ironic Process [Electronic Version]. http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~wegner/ip..htm
Sadie Dingfelder. September 2005. Monitor on Psychology: A Workout for Working Memory. [Electronic Version]. http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep05/workout.html
