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the action or condition of being automatic; mechanical or involuntary action.
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.
physiology. the involuntary functioning of an organic process, especially muscular, without apparent neural stimulation.
psychology.

the performance of an act or actions without the performer’s awareness or conscious volition.
such an act, as sleepwalking.

a method of producing pictorial art, as paintings and collages, -ssociated 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.
to make automatic.
automate.
historical examples

the medium was a psychic of the corliss type, an automatist who delivered his “spirit messages” by word of mouth.
adventurings in the psychical h. addington bruce

to the student of automatisms, of course, all this irresistibly suggests the automatist’s own subliminal handiwork.
human personality and its survival of bodily death frederick w. h. myers

i do not, of course, mean that they all of them bring messages from sources external to the automatist’s own mind.
human personality and its survival of bodily death frederick w. h. myers

but as we go further we can no longer limit the problem in this way,—to the activities of the automatist’s subliminal self.
human personality and its survival of bodily death frederick w. h. myers

this refers to the cases where the automatist has provably never seen the deceased person’s handwriting.
human personality and its survival of bodily death frederick w. h. myers

his manifestations may differ very considerably from the automatist’s normal personality.
human personality and its survival of bodily death frederick w. h. myers

after a time the control gives way, and the automatist’s spirit returns.
human personality and its survival of bodily death frederick w. h. myers

the automatist, awaking, may or may not remember his experiences in the spiritual world during the trance.
human personality and its survival of bodily death frederick w. h. myers

there is in such a case no apparent communication between the discarnate mind and the mind of the automatist.
human personality and its survival of bodily death frederick w. h. myers

noun
the state or quality of being automatic; mechanical or involuntary action
(law, philosophy) the explanation of an action, or of action in general, as determined by the physiological states of the individual, admissible in law as a defence when the physiological state is involuntary, as in sleepwalking
(psychol) the performance of actions, such as sleepwalking, without conscious knowledge or control
the suspension of consciousness sought or achieved by certain artists and writers to allow free flow of uncensored thoughts
verb
to make (a process, etc) automatic or (of a process, etc) to be made automatic
v.

1837, “to make into an automaton;” see automaton + -ize. meaning “to make automatic” attested by 1952. related: automatized; automatizing.

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

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.

the reflexive action of a body part.

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

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