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automatism

 - 4 dictionary results

au⋅tom⋅a⋅tism

  [aw-tom-uh-tiz-uhm]
Use automatism in a Sentence
–noun
1. the action or condition of being automatic; mechanical or involuntary action.
2. Philosophy. the doctrine that all activities of animals, or of humans and animals, are entirely controlled by physical or physiological causes in which consciousness takes no part.
3. Physiology. the involuntary functioning of an organic process, esp. muscular, without apparent neural stimulation.
4. Psychology.
a. the performance of an act or actions without the performer's awareness or conscious volition.
b. such an act, as sleepwalking.
5. a method of producing pictorial art, as paintings and collages, associated chiefly with the dadaists and surrealists, in which the artist strives to allow the impulses of the unconscious to guide the hand in matters of line, color, and structure without the interference of conscious choice.
Origin:
1880–85; < Gk automatismós a happening of itself. See automaton, -ism

Related forms:
au⋅tom⋅a⋅tist, noun, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To automatism
au·tom·a·tism   (ô-tŏm'ə-tĭz'əm)   
n.  

    1. The state or quality of being automatic.

    2. Automatic mechanical action.

    3. The involuntary functioning of an organ or other body structure that is not under conscious control, such as the beating of the heart or the dilation of the pupil of the eye.

    4. The reflexive action of a body part.

  2. Philosophy The theory that the body is a machine whose functions are accompanied but not controlled by consciousness.

  3. Physiology

    1. The involuntary functioning of an organ or other body structure that is not under conscious control, such as the beating of the heart or the dilation of the pupil of the eye.

    2. The reflexive action of a body part.

  4. Psychology Mechanical, seemingly aimless behavior characteristic of various mental disorders.


[From Latin automaton, automaton; see automaton.]
au·tom'a·tist n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: au·tom·a·tism
Pronunciation: o-'täm-&-"tiz-&m
Function: noun
1 : an automatic action; especially : any action performed without the doer's intention or awareness
2 : the power or fact of moving or functioning without conscious control either independently of externalstimulation (as in the beating of the heart) or more or less directly under the influence of external stimuli (as in the dilating or contracting of the pupil of the eye)
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

automatism au·tom·a·tism (ô-tŏm'ə-tĭz'əm)
n.

  1. The involuntary functioning of an organ or other body structure that is not under conscious control, such as the beating of the heart or the dilation of the pupil of the eye.

  2. The reflexive action of a body part.

  3. An act performed without intent or conscious exercise of the will, often without realization of its occurrence, as for certain types of epilepsy.

  4. A condition in which one is consciously or unconsciously, but involuntarily, compelled to the performance of certain acts. Also called telergy.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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