Automatism
Encyclopedia
Automatism may refer to:
Unconscious muscular movements often attributed to the supernatural through physical guidance, especially artistic activity (i.e. writing, drawing, painting, playing musical instruments, composing, dancing, and singing).
Automatism was often attributed to spirits and the divine since ancient times when inspired activity was considered to be the gift of the gods. The prevailing contemporary view is that most automatisms are the product of secondary personalities who produce knowledge or information the person has learned and repressed or forgotten.
The most common forms of automatism are automatic writing and automatic painting. In automatic painting, individuals who have little or no artistic training suddenly feel overcome by the desire to draw or paint in distinctive professional styles. They may feel guided by a spirit, or that an invisible hand is pushing theirs. In some cases, the style is recognizable as that of a deceased artist. Other types of motor automatisms include impulsive hebavior, sudden inhibitions and sudden physical incapacities. Problems associated with automatisms include compulsion, obsession, and a feeling of possession. Sensory automatisms, those produced by an inner voice or vision, can include apparitions of the living, inspirations, hallucinations, and dreams.
- Automatic behaviorAutomatic behaviorAutomatic behavior, from the Greek automatos or self-acting, is the spontaneous production of often purposeless verbal or motor behavior without conscious self-control or self-censorship...
, spontaneous verbal or motor behavior; an act performed unconsciously. Defendants have been found not guilty due to an automatism defense (e.g., homicide while sleepwalking). - Automatism (law)Automatism (law)-Definition:Automatism is a rarely used criminal defence. It is one of the mental condition defences that relate to the mental state of the defendant. Automatism can be seen variously as lack of voluntariness, lack of culpability or excuse...
, a defense to liability. See also Automatism (case law)Automatism (case law)Automatism is a rarely used criminal defence which denies that the accused was criminally responsible for his or her actions. The term automatism was first used in the trial of Harrison-Owen in 1951, although accused persons had been exonerated on grounds of automatic behaviour before then e.g...
. - Automatism (toxicology)Automatism (toxicology)Automatism, in toxicology, refers to a tendency to take a drug over and over again, forgetting each time that one has already taken the dose. This can lead to a cumulative overdose. A particular example is barbiturates which were once commonly used as hypnotic drugs...
, when an individual repeatedly takes a medication because the individual forgets previous doses, potentially leading to a drug overdose. - Automatic writingAutomatic writingAutomatic writing or psychography is writing which the writer states to be produced from a subconscious and/or spiritual source without conscious awareness of the content.-History:...
, the process, or product, of writing material that does not come from the conscious thoughts of the writer. - Automatism Artistic Movement
- Surrealist automatismSurrealist automatismAutomatism has taken on many forms: the automatic writing and drawing initially practiced by surrealists can be compared to similar, or perhaps parallel phenomena, such as the non-idiomatic improvisation of free jazz....
, an art technique. - Automatism (medicine)Automatism (medicine)In medicine, automatism refers to a set of brief unconscious behaviors. These typically last for several seconds to minutes or sometimes longer, a time during which the subject is unaware of his/her actions...
, repetitive unconscious gestures such as lip smacking, chewing, or swallowing in certain types of epilepsy.
Unconscious muscular movements often attributed to the supernatural through physical guidance, especially artistic activity (i.e. writing, drawing, painting, playing musical instruments, composing, dancing, and singing).
Automatism was often attributed to spirits and the divine since ancient times when inspired activity was considered to be the gift of the gods. The prevailing contemporary view is that most automatisms are the product of secondary personalities who produce knowledge or information the person has learned and repressed or forgotten.
The most common forms of automatism are automatic writing and automatic painting. In automatic painting, individuals who have little or no artistic training suddenly feel overcome by the desire to draw or paint in distinctive professional styles. They may feel guided by a spirit, or that an invisible hand is pushing theirs. In some cases, the style is recognizable as that of a deceased artist. Other types of motor automatisms include impulsive hebavior, sudden inhibitions and sudden physical incapacities. Problems associated with automatisms include compulsion, obsession, and a feeling of possession. Sensory automatisms, those produced by an inner voice or vision, can include apparitions of the living, inspirations, hallucinations, and dreams.