When I was learning to play the ukulele, to make each chord, I had to position my fingers one at a time. Eventually my entire hand starting moving into the correct positions for various chords automatically. Woop! Automaticity unlocked!

That's an exciting achievement when you're building any other kind of skill, too, like writing, gaming, or playing a sport. Automaticity is that point where you've trained your body and mind to do certain things without having to think about them, which frees you up to focus on the next level.

Let's recall some other terms for exciting achievements in the learning process:

1. When your mind or muscle memory can store lots of knowledge or processes, it's re___tive.

2. When you've learned to link or chain up lots of complex steps into a single smooth process, you've con___enated those steps.

3. If you've become expert, masterful, and even famous at what you do, then you're a vir_____.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) 

In English, going back to the 1500s, we've used some form of the word "automatic," which has Greek bits that literally mean "self-thinking" or "self-moving."

Around the 1870s, we started using the noun "automaticity," meaning "the ability to do things automatically: quickly and without effort or thought."

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Noun, usually the uncountable kind: "They've achieved automaticity;" "the automaticity of the heart and lungs."

Other forms: 

The noun "automation" more often describes machines and their programs, while "automaticity" more often describes people and their skills.

There are two verb forms, pretty much interchangeable: "automate" and "automatize." "Automate" is more common and tends to be used more for what machines do, while "automatize" is less common and tends to be used more for what humans do.

The adjective is "automatic," and the adverb is "automatically."

how to use it:

Pick the clear, semi-common word "automaticity" when you want an exciting and slightly dramatic word for people's ability to get things done fast, without having to think about it.

You might talk about people building, working toward, using, or relying on automaticity. Or you might talk about the automaticity of a certain process or skill.

In this issue, I'm focused on human automaticity, but you can certainly talk about the automaticity of non-human tasks and processes: the kind done by machines, programs, bureaucracies, animals, or forces of nature.

examples:

"We must practice scientific and statistical thinking to the point of automaticity, eventually making it our go-to option." 
  — Peter Gutmann, Scientific American, 28 October 2015

"The success of any offensive play [in basketball] is dependent on quick and proper execution of passes, dribbles, cuts, and shots. Drilling in these basic building blocks of team play eventually resulted in automaticity—performing them without conscious thought. This freed players' minds to concentrate and respond creatively and spontaneously to whatever the opposing team tried to do." 
  — Swen Nater and Ronald Gallimore, You Haven't Taught Until They Have Learned, 2006

has this page helped you understand "automaticity"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "automaticity" without saying "fluency" or "autopilot."

try it out:

Some people are born travelers. Whether they're planning, booking, packing, or getting out the door on time, they can somehow breeze through it, even carry on an unrelated conversation at the same time. They have automaticity.

That's not me! I have to focus carefully on what I'm doing when planning or executing a trip. And with me being both travel-anxious and travel-avoidant, I'm not likely to develop automaticity for it.

With travel in mind as an example, talk about a task that, right now, requires you to think, focus, or slow down and go step by step. Is this a task that you could eventually automatize? Why or why not?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is Slide Into The Title: Elton John Edition! 

Have you noticed how pop songs tend to use rhyme, rhythm, and semantics to guide you straight into singing the correct title, even if you’ve never heard it before? I love that, how the title clicks into place. See if you can slide into a complete title, given a snippet of lyrics.

You can check out some examples here.

Try this one today:

"Oooh where we meet,
Oooh where we meet,
Me and you, rendezvous,
In the club at the end __ ___ ______."

To see the answer, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. A near opposite of AUTOMATICITY is

A. VISION.
B. STRENGTH.
C. MINDFULNESS.

2. Automaticity in sports, such as golf, has been studied and found essential; on some tasks, golfers can actually perform worse if they _____.

A. zone out or daydream
B. stop to focus consciously on their movements
C. catch the eye of a friend or loved one watching the game

Answers to the review questions: 1. C 2. B From the game: That song is "Club At The End Of The Street."

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.