Learning Complex Categories Two Ways at Once: The Link between Automatic Processing and Nonanalytic Learning

Concurrent automatic and focal attentive processes were evaluated for a categorization task. Automatic processing is associated with nonanalytic processing and is less deliberate, effortful, and less strategy based. Automatic processing does not interfere with focal attentive processing. This set of facts yielded two hypotheses, that automatic learning of categories would occur concurrently with focal attentive learning of categories and automatic learning of categories would be nonanalytic. After a phase of self-paced learning, analytic categorizers were identified. These analytic subjects proceeded to a speeded categorization task and were tested for evidence of a shift toward nonanalytic learning. A significant increase in nonanalytic responses was found in the speeded condition, providing modest support for the hypotheses.