Where does this fit with the idea that voluntary behavior can become involuntary in time. Like driving, where you start by fully thinking (consciously) of each move, and in time it becomes unconscious (not sure if we can call it involuntary). This was discussed a bit by Schrodinger in What is Life.
Will this, now unconsious action, be susceptible to reinforcement? If you find you make lots of accidents, maybe driving will jump back to voluntary?
I’m not sure if automatic, learned behavior such as driving is at all the same as truly ‘involuntary’ behavior, like bile secretion and body temperature/heart rate. To me, it seems that the voluntary behavior of driving has just been ‘chunked’ so that decisions occur at a higher level. Instead of deciding ‘ok, now I will put on my turn signal, I will slow down and check my blind spot and look in my mirrors and if there’s no cars coming I’ll make a left-hand turn’, the decision is ‘i’ll turn left on the way to Suzy’s house.’ If the route to Suzy’s house is also memorized to the point of being automatic, the voluntary point is leaving home and the decision is ‘I’ll drive to Suzy’s house’.
Even a novice driver’s behavior is chunked; you don’t think of each individual muscle contraction involved in turning the steering wheel. For most people, this is already learned and chunked. It’s still voluntary.
Interesting.
Where does this fit with the idea that voluntary behavior can become involuntary in time. Like driving, where you start by fully thinking (consciously) of each move, and in time it becomes unconscious (not sure if we can call it involuntary). This was discussed a bit by Schrodinger in What is Life.
Will this, now unconsious action, be susceptible to reinforcement? If you find you make lots of accidents, maybe driving will jump back to voluntary?
I’m not sure if automatic, learned behavior such as driving is at all the same as truly ‘involuntary’ behavior, like bile secretion and body temperature/heart rate. To me, it seems that the voluntary behavior of driving has just been ‘chunked’ so that decisions occur at a higher level. Instead of deciding ‘ok, now I will put on my turn signal, I will slow down and check my blind spot and look in my mirrors and if there’s no cars coming I’ll make a left-hand turn’, the decision is ‘i’ll turn left on the way to Suzy’s house.’ If the route to Suzy’s house is also memorized to the point of being automatic, the voluntary point is leaving home and the decision is ‘I’ll drive to Suzy’s house’.
Even a novice driver’s behavior is chunked; you don’t think of each individual muscle contraction involved in turning the steering wheel. For most people, this is already learned and chunked. It’s still voluntary.